^^ 




K "^ Problems and Leaders 

^ ^ ^ ^' nf 1896 '^ 

AN IMPARTIAL PRESENTATION OF LIVING 
NATIONAL QUESTIONS, 

embracing: 

The Campaign Outlook— President Making— Status of Parties 

Principles of Free-Trade and Protection — Gold and 

Silver Issues — Tariff Legislation — American 

Reciprocity — The Monroe Doctrine — 

'^ Our Cuban Relations. 

WITH 

Portraits and BioGRAPHms 
Distinguished PartyLeaders; 

ALSO 

Lives of the Candidates for 

President and Vice-President, Convention Proceedingfs and Full 

Text of National Platforms. 

JAMES P. BOYD, A. M. 

Author of " Men and Issues of '92," " Vital Questions," Etc. 



PUBLISHERS' UNION. 
1896. 



,.*^* 






COPYEIGHT, 1896. 

By JAMES P. BOYD. 






N. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



The national will finds expression for the twenty-eighth 
time in the presidential election of 1896. The last event 
is no less momentous than the first, or any intermediate 
one. Considered as a spectacle it is the most imposing of 
all, for everything that enters into it is on a stupendous 
scale. An empire of forty-five states, breasting the two 
great oceans of the globe, chooses by common consent its 
executive guardian for four years. Thirteen million 
voters meet in national tribunal to determine their quad- 
rennial policy. Never before has earth yielded areas of 
such magnitude to popular government. History no- 
where records the voluntary, peaceful judgment of so 
many freemen, spoken at an agreed upon time, and, as it 
were, with a single breath. 

But the recurrence of a national election in this great 
republic is far other than a mere spectacle. It is pre- 
eminently suggestive of the inner meaning of popular 
empire, and eloquently expressive of the underlying forces 
that make empire possible and permanent. It is the 
opened mouth of sovereignty, whose voice is heard on hill- 
top and in valley, by river and lake, and whose speech is, 
for the time, the irresistible edict. 

And what a meaning the word sovereignty has in a 
republic like ours, as compared with other forms of em- 
pire ! It was never a part of any feudal government to 

(5) 



6 IKTKODUCTORY. 

recognize sovereignty as in the people. Yet it is doubtful 
if there was ever a time in the history of any nation \Yhen 
the people did not feel that sovereignty was in themselveso 
Many learned writers who recognize organic sovereignty 
as in the people, call it sovereignty only when it takes the 
tangible shape of government or law. But in the United 
States sovereignty is the undoubted birthright of the in- 
dividual. He gives it majesty and moving, visible effect 
when he unites it with the same right in others, acting 
along the same plane of thought and desire. As it takes 
many soldiers to make an army, so individual sovereignty 
assumes imposing and effective force when it bubbles 
forth from a set of men, a society, a community, a people, 
a nation, and embodies an aggregate or joint will, the 
election providing the opportunity for, and the ballot be- 
ing the medium of, expression. In the individual it may 
be as a still small voice in a wilderness of men, but joined 
with other voices, in the same key of affirmation or pro- 
test, it becomes as Jove's voice thundering a verdict from 
Olympian heights. It is then that it speaks into existence 
legislators, laws, governors, presidents, policies, constitu- 
tions, states, empires. And, in hours of great public 
grievance, incendiary thought or violent partisan out- 
biiist, it may mean defiance of all law, official dethrone- 
ment, smashing of constitutions, upheaval of states, crash- 
ing of empires. 

So then the inner, vital, inspiring force of republican 
empire which makes so omnij)otently for weal, if rightly 
directed, may make equally for woe, if wrongly directed. 
The responsibility of proper direction is at the source of 
the force — in the individual voter. In the lower forms of 
government, individual instinct, that is, nature's educa- 
tion, is a sufficient directive energy. In higher forms of 



INTRODUCTORY. 



government intelligence must supplement instinct. In 
the highest form of government, as in our own republic, 
wliere there is scarcely a gap between the source of the 
governing force and its outward expression or even active 
application, intelligence ought to be the supreme qualifi- 
cation. Therein alone lies national stability and safety ; 
therein only exists hope for the benefit of healthy, pure, re- 
sponsive government, and for the glory of free institutions. 

Therefore the awful responsibility of a vote is commen- 
surate with the mighty right to vote. Both are exalted 
with the magnitude, importance or complexity of the 
problems seeking solution. Public questions do not grow 
fewer with the years, nor become less momentous. On 
the contrary they by right expand in number and impor- 
tance just as territory grows, industries increase, commerce 
multiplies, and all social and economic interests amplify. 
Even should there come exceptional times when issues are 
narrow in number and complexity, it will be found that 
like finer metals they weigh all the more, and involve 
quite as much, as when they are many or less simple. 
The situation of this very hour may not be, comparatively 
speaking, complicated as to national issues, but who has 
ever seen the time in our political history when they con- 
cerned so intimately tlie pocket, food, raiment, shelter, 
health and happiness of the toiling masses, or were re- 
garded so nervously by the farmer, manufacturer, mer- 
chant, banker and creditor? 

However careless the American voter may have 
hitherto been about preparation to cast a satisfactory 
ballot, or however much he may have striven to exercise 
an intelligent will at the polls, it cannot at this juncture 
escape him that it is encumbent on him to do all in his 
power to make his exercise of personal sovereignty as clear 



8 "iNTiiODUCTOEY. 

and decisive as possible. This work has been prepared 
with a view to helping him. If it shonld be accepted as 
his preparatory hand-book, lie can readily prime himself 
for the election occasion and form a judgment which he 
can defei.d in the forum of conscience and before the 
Avorld. One thing he can be sure of to start witli, and 
that is that he will be unhampered by any attempt on the 
part of the author to sway his feelings or influence his in- 
clinations. As partisanship is not a proper part of free 
education, and as every fountain of knowledge should be 
of unadulterated liquid, so the information offered in this 
volume is neither speculative nor biased, but only such as 
the historic verities warrant. 

The problems of the times are most serious, the issues 
broad. Voters are in no humor to " go it blind " for the 
sake of party. The spirit of this work meets their spirit. 
It presents the living questions, the issues that burn for 
solution, not as seen by partisan or party, not in any 
narrow, controversial view, but as the intelligent, inde- 
pendent voter would have them, and had best have them, 
so that he can see them from all sides and form for him- 
self an estimate of their worth. 

The constant aim of the author has been to steer clear 
of the narrowness, selfishness, partisanship and perish- 
ability of tlie ordinary campaign book, and to present the 
problems involved in the national election in all their 
phases, so that both, or all, sides may be studied, and so 
that their study may not be for to-day only, but for all 
the time the problems may be uppermost. In no other 
form could a work touching on political questions, and is- 
sued during a period of political controversy, prove as 
high a compliment to the intelligence and independence 
Qf the reader. In no other form could it deserve or find 



INTRODUCTORY. 9 

SO permanent a place in the library and great school of 
the home. 

The problems amplified are those of President Making, 
Parties, Free Trade, Protection, Silver and Gold, Tariff 
Legislation, Reciprocity, Monroe Doctrine, Cuban Rela- 
tions — all vital and urgent. They are introduced with a 
horoscope of the campaign, interspersed with frequent 
portraits of eminent statesmen and political leaders of all 
parties, together with their biographies, and supplemented 
with lives of the presidential candidates. 

The publishers have greatly helped the purpose of the 
author to provide a plain, impartial educational work of a 
political kind for legislators, public speakers and voters, 
by gracing it with so many beautiful illustrations, so clear 
and readable a type and such unsurpassed excellence and 
beauty of paper and binding. 



CONTENTS. 



I. 

Political Lines of 1896. 

Trend of Political Sentiment — Earnestness of Voters — Solemnity of 
the Issues — Their Nearness to the Masses — Homes and Pockets 
Touched — Impotence of Mere Politicians — Sound Doctrines in 
Demand — Issues Make the Leaders — A Hard-working Cam- 
paign — Printing Press and Club Room — The Issue of Tariff — 
The Tariff Situation — View of Past Measures — Tariff Reform — 
The Wilson Bill — Trial in the Courts of Public Opinion — Finan- 
cial Depression — A Square Test Required — Results of Recent 
Elections — Revolution of Parties — Silver and Gold Problem — • 
Rapid Growth of Silver Sentiment — Effect on Parties — A Battle 
Royal Anticipated — The Populist Attitude — Place of the Gold 
Men — Silver Legislation — Effects of Congressional Action — • 
Great Importance of the National Election to Parties and the 
Country— The Currency Problem — Attitude of Sound Money 
Democrats — Republican and Prohibition Bolters — Union of 
Populists and Democrats • ■ 23 

II. 

Peksident Making Since 1788. 

Electoral Votes by States in 1892, 1888 and 1884— Popular Votes- 
Electoral College in all Presidential Years — Candidates and 
Parties — Disputed Elections — Effect of the Twelfth Amend- 
ment — Votes for Each Candidate — The Popular Vote — When 
the Popular Vote Began to be Counted — As Cast for Each Can- 
didate — Valuable and Interesting Data 41 

Cii) 



12 CONTENTS. 

III. 

Paeties Past and Peesent. 

Use of Political Parties — Necessary in a Republic — Views Respect- 
iug Tliem — Faucilul Party Names — Origin of Whig, Tory, Lo- 
cofoco, Etc. — Colonial Parties — Parties of the Revolution — Par- 
ties of the Confederation — Extinction of Whig and Tory Titles 
— Rise of Federalism — Principles of Federalism — Rise of the 
Old Republican Party — Its Leaders and Principles — Fall of the 
Federal Party — Triumph of the Republican Party — Its Division 
and Fall — How the Whig Party Rose— Rise of Democratic Party 
— Principles and Leaders of Each — Impress on Legislation — De- 
cline of Whig Party — Its Legacy to the Nation — Slavery and 
Political Parties — Democratic Divisions — Free-soil Party — Rise 
of the New Republican Party — Its Principles, Leaders and 
Strength — Rise and Fall of Know-nothing Party — Its place 
in History — The Greenback Party — Revival of Democracy — 
Growth of Prohibition Party — Rise of Populism — The People's 
Party — Free Silver Party — Labor and Other Parties 49 

IV. 

Peinciples of Feee Teade. 

Definition of Free Trade — Principle of a Tariff — Early Free Traders 
— Tariff for Revenue — Tariff Reform — Politics Confuses Terms 
— The English Idea — Old and New Theories — Law as to Capital 
— As to Labor — Productiveness and Labor — Increased Price — 
Doctrine of "Laissez Faire " — Protection Iniquitous — Class 
Taxation — Diminished Labor — Wrong of the Custom House — 
Division of Labor — Aggregate of Labor — Diversified Industry — 
Produce for Produce — Value of Free Competition — Facility of 
Exchanges — Diminution of Labor — Capital and Employment — 
Independence of Foreigners — Free Trade in Politics — Tariff a 
Tax — Monopolies and Trusts — Views of Gladstone and Patrick 
Henry— Protection Invokes Wars — England Repudiated Her 
Own Protection Laws — Reaches Free Trade — Views of Wells, 
Taussig, Robert Peel, Jackson, Rowan, Dallas — Protection 
Leads to Smuggling — Comparison of Free Trade and Protection 
Eras- Views of Buchanan, Lloyd, Garfield — Smith — Free Trade 
Era of 1850 to 1860 one of Prosperity — General Principles . . . 105 



CONTENTS. 13 



Pkincipi-es of Protection. 

Principle uot in Donbt— Practiced by all Nations— Necessary to 
Commercial Supremacy — For Industrial and Manufacturing In- 
dependence — Protection Unites Art and Nature — Protective and 
Revenue Tariffs— Revenue Duties Fall on Necessaries — Protect- 
ive Duties Fall on Competitive Articles— Rate and Adjustment 
of Protective Duties — Prohibitory Rates— Essence of Labor in 
Products— Per Cent, of Labor — Application of Protection to 
Labor— Effect of Protection on Labor— Protection Does uot In- 
crease Cost to Consumer — Competition Regulates Cost — Encour- 
agement to Capital— To Invention — More and Better Goods — 
Tariff for Protection not a Tax— Producers Pay the Duty— Sen- 
timent in Bradford— Opinions of List, Smith, Mill— Advantage 
of Protection to Agricultural Communities — "The American 
System" — Opinions of Washington, Madisou, Jefferson, Taus- 
sig — American Conditions — European Conditions — Protection 
Cures Monopoly — Gives Competing Power Abroad — Revenue 
Tariff a Tax— Doctrine of Natural Right— Duty of Development 
— Use of Natural Gifts— Our Own Economics — Absolute Cheap- 
ness not Desirable — Protection Does not Tend to Overproduc- 
tion — Protection Since 1861 — Carey's Deductions — Uses to 
Farmers — Free "Raw Material " — Protection not for Privileged 
Classes — Does not Contribute to Great Fortunes — Nor to Trusts 
—Tends to Fairer Profits— Our Material Growth 126 



VI. 

Silver and Gold. 

Importance of the Question, "What is Money ?" — Kinds of Money — 
Money Values — Money Systems — American Coinage — First Coin- 
age Act — Gold and Silver Values — Reasons for a Change— Coin- 
age Act of 1834 — Mistaken Ratios — Silver Monometalized — 
" Gresham's Law "— " Mint Act " of 1837— Coinage Act of 1849 
— Effects of the Discovery of Gold — Alarm of the Commercial 
World— Our "Legal Tender Acts "—Resumption of the Coin- 
age Act of 1873— Silver Demonetized— The "Trade Dollar" of 
1876— Extent of Coinage to 1878— Coinage Act of 1878— Free 



14 CONTENTS. 

and Unlimited Coinage System— Restoration of the Silver Dol- 
lar—Coinage Act of 1890— What it Did— The Proposed Free 
Coinage Act of 1892— What it Sought Compared with Other 
Acts — Repeal of Purchasing Clause in Sherman Act— Rapid 
Growth of Free Silver Coinage Sentiment — How it Affected 
Parties and Legislation— Place in Party Platforms— Effects 
Upon Finance and Business— Silver and the Campaign of 1896 
—Opinions of Party Leaders 154 

VII, 

HiSTOEY OF American Tariffs. 

English Colonial System— The Confederation and Free Trade— The 
Constitution and Imposts— Tariff Act of 1789— Protective Era 
—Embargo and Tariff of 1812— High Protective Era— Act of 
1816— Disasters of 1817-19— Act of 1824 and the "American 
System "—Attitude of Parties— Act of 1828— Hostility to It 
and Compromise Act of 1833— Nullification— Panic of 1837— 
Protective Rates of 1842— Repealing Act of 1846— Effect of Mex- 
ican War, Discovery of (!old, Foreign Wars and Famines— Tariff 
Act of 1857— Panic of 1857— Protective Act of 1861— Effect of 
Civil War— Panic of 1873 and Act of 1874— The Tariff Commis- 
sion and Tariff of 1883— The Morrison Bill— Tlie Mills Bill- 
Tariff Act of 1890— Policy of Reciprocity— Tariff Legislation in 
1892— Doctrine of Tariff Reform— The Wilson Tariff Act of 1894 
— Reduction of Duties— Destruction of Reciprocity — Failure of 
its lucome Feature— A Deficit of Income- Panic and Industrial 
Depression— The Dingley Relief Measure of 1896— Tariff Senti- 
ment Abroad— Lord Salisbury's Views— Protective Legislation, 207 

VIII. 

American Reciprocity. 

General View of Reciprocity- Commercial Treaties— " Most Favored 
Nation" Clause— Reciprocity and the American Republics- 
Modern Commercial Era- Escape from European Dominion— 
The "Monroe Doctrine "—Prophecy of John Adams— The In- 
ternational Conference— Report on Reciprocity— Blaine's Re- 
view and Recommendation— Reciprocity and Tariff Act of 1890 
—Second Stage of Reciprocity— Acceptance by Foreign Nations 



CONTENTS. 15 

—Effect upon Commercial Relations— General View of its Oper- 
ations—Repeal of Reciprocity by Wilson Tariff Act— Effect of 
Repeal — Discrimination by Foreign Nations 300 

IX. 

The Moneoe Docteine. i 

I 

The Venezuelan Boundary Dispute— England's Attitude— Position 
of the United States— Arbitration Proposed, and Monroe Doc- 
trine Explained- England Denies the Doctrine and Refuses to 
Arbitrate— Olney's State Paper— The President's Bold Message 
-Response of the Congress— The Venezuelan Commission- 
American War Sentiment— A Firm Foreign Policy Demanded- 
Change in English Sentiment— Historic Review of Monroe 
Doctrine— The Holy Alliance— Attitude of Allied Monarchs To- 
ward America— England's Proposition to America— Rush's 
First Announcement of the Doctrine- Consideration by Ameri- 
can Statesmen— Formulated and Announced by President Mon- 
roe—Supported by Adams, Clay, Webster and Other Statesmen 
—Various Announcements by Presidents and Secretaries of 
State — An Enduring Principle of Our Unwritten Law— How it 
is Applicable to the Venezuelan Question 366 

X. 

Our Cuban Relations. 

Spain and Cuba— History of Cuban Insurrections— Spanish Attitude 
Toward the Island— The Last Uprising— Review of Insurgent 
Work— Victories Afield—Institution of a Government— Demand 
for Belligerent Rights by the United States— Resolutions by 
Congress— Attitude of President Cleveland— Should Onr For- 
eign Relations Change as to Spain and Cuba— Sentiment of 
Statesmen and Publicists — Reasons For and Against a 
Grant of Belligerent Rights— Execution of Neutrality Laws- 
How Our Nation is Affected— American Interests in Cuba- 
Appeal of Patriotism and Humanity— Extent of American 
Sympathy ..,<..... • • • • • • j ^^^ 



16 CONTENTS. 

XI. 

Life of William McKinley 

Parentage and Birth — Eaily Life and Education — Characteristics 
of Youth — Career as a Soldier — Promotions in Service — A Law 
Student — Admission to Bar — Success in Practice — Orator and 1 
Debater — District Attorney — In Public Life- -Rapid Else in 
Statesmanship — "The Apostle of Protection" — Brilliant 
Speeches — Father of the "McKinley Bill" — As Governor of 
Ohio for Two Terms — His Tremendous Majorities — Pojiularity 
■with the People — Family and Home Life — Personal Traits — The 
Popular Uprising — Strength in Republican Convention — Nom- 
ination for the Presidency — The Home Ovations and Speech of 
Acceptance — National Congratulations , . . . 435 

XII. 

Life of Garret A. Hobart. 

Birth and Education — As a Lawyer — Rise to Public Station — Posi- 
tions of Civic Trust — In State Assembly — Meml)er of State 
Committee — Powerful Political Worker — Personal Characteris- 
tics — Home and Social Position — Nomination for Vice-President 
Ovations and Acceptance , 483 

XIII. 

The Republican Platform of 1896. 
.*-•■ 501 

XIV. 

Life of William Jennings Bryan. 

Parentage and Birth— Common School Education— Farm Residence 
— At College— An Oratorical Student — Graduation with Honors 
— In the Law School — Admission to the Bar — In Practice at 
Salem — His JMarriage — Removal to Lincoln, Nebraska — Law 



CONTENTS. 17 

Firm of Talbot and Bryan— Success as a Lawyer— Fame as a 
Political Speaker— Election to 52d Congress— Kemarkable 
Tariff Speech — Universal Congratulations- -Election to 53d 
Congress— Champion of Free Silver Coinage— Senatorial Aspir- 
ations—Personal Appearance — Leading Traits of Character — 
Their "Washington Life — Wife's Appearance and Characteristics 
—Home Life— Powers as an Orator— A Leader in the Chicago 
Convention— His Magncitic Speech— Convention Acclaim— His 
Nomination for President— His Notification and Ovation- 
Triumphant Homeward Journey 510 



XV. 

Life of Arthtjb Sewall. 

Parentage and Birth— Early Education— In the Calling of Ship- 
builder—A Practical Workman— Entry into the Shipbuilding 
Firm— Large Vessel Builder and Owner— Devotion to Cause of 
Merchant Marine— A Railway President ard Manager— Bank 
President— Promoter and Manager of Industrial Enterprises- 
Personalism and Social Life— His Wife, Children and Home- 
Nomination as Vice-President— A Logical Selection— Reception 
of Nomination — Home Ovation 555 

XVI. 

Democeatic Platform of 1896. 



564 



XVII. 

Life of Joshua Levering. 

Parentage and Birth— Education— Entry into Commercial Pursuits 
—Prominent Baltimore Merchant— Marriage and Family— Civic 
and Public Trusts— Political Career— Nomination for President 
—The Prohibition Platform— Proceedings of Pittsburg Conven- 
tion 571 



18 CONTENTS. 

XVIII. 

Life of Hale Johnson. 

Birth and Education — Career as Soldier — Admission to the Bar — Prom- 
inence in Practice — Honorary Positions— Standing in Prohibi- 
tion Counsels— Nomination for Vice-President ...... .. . . . . .582 

XIX. 

The National Party and Platform of 1896. 
Origin — Appeal to the People — Platform 584 

XX. 

Life of Charles E. Bentley. 
Parentage and Birth — Early Life and Education — Marriage — Public 
Services— Farmer — Philanthropist — Joined Prohibition Party — 
Member of National Prohibition Committee — Advocate of Wo- 
man Suffrage — Preacher — Personal Appearance — Orator — Natural 
Leader . 590 

XXI. 

Life of James H. Southgate. 
Birth — Education — Business Career — Marriage — Public Services — 
Chairman Prohibition State Executive Committee 594 

XXII. 

The People's Party. 
First National Convention — Second National Convention 1896 — Con- 
vention Proceedings — Nomination of a Vice-President — Nomina- 
tion of W. J. Bryan for President. " Middle of the Road " Men 596 

XXIII. 

People's Party Platform foe 1896. 
, 599 

XXIV. 

Life of Thomas E. Watson. 
Birth — Education — Admission to the Bar — Enters the Political Arena 
— Elected to Congress as a Democrat — Nominee of People's Party 
for Congress — Charges against Members of the House — Wonder- 
ful Oratorical Powers • 607 

XXV. 

National Silver Party. 
Candidates and Platform 609 




Hon. James McMillan. 

Born at Hamilton, Out., May 12, 1838 ; prepared for College, but 
entered business in Detroit, 1855 ; established Michigan Car Company, 
1863; member and chairman of Republican State Central Committee, 
1876, 1886, 1890 ; President of Detroit Park Commission and Board 
of Estimates; Republican Presidential Elector, 1884; elected to United 
States Senate, as Republican, for term beginning March 4, 1889, and re- 
elected in 1895; an industrious, practical member, whose opinions com- 
mand respect ; Chairman of Committee on District of Columbia and 
member of Committees on Commerce, Naval Affairs and Corporations in 
D. C. 




Hon. George Graham V^est. 

Born at Frankfort, Ky., December 6, 1830 ; graduated at Centre Col- 
lege, Ky., 1848, and at Law Department of Transylvania University, 
1853; same year moved to Missouri and began practice of law ; Presi- 
dential Elector on Democratic ticket, 1800; member of Missouri Legis- 
lature, 1860-61 ; served for two years as member of Confederate 
Congress, and one year in Confederate Senate; elected to U. S. 
Senate, as a Democrat, 1879 ; re-elected 1885 and 1890 ; member of 
Committees on Finance, Commerce, Public Buildings and Grounds, and 
Epidemic Diseases, 



List of Illustrations. 





PAGE 




PAGE 


THE "WHITE HOUSE" Frontispiece. 


J. B. FORAKER 


362 


JOHN ADAMS .... 


37 


WM. P. FRYE . 


235 


N. W. ALDRICH 


73 


ULYSSES S. GRANT 


55 


JOHN QUINCY ADAMS 


37 


JAMES Z. GEORGE 


361 


AVM. B.ALLISON . 


127 


JAMES A. GARFIELD 


56 


CHESTER A. ARTHUR 


56 


ARTHUR P. GORMAN 


163 


RICHARD P. BLAND . 


181 


MARK A. HANNA 


469 


JAMES BUCHANAN 


55 


WM. H. HARRISON 


38 


J. C. S. BLACKBURN . 


200 


ISHAM G. HARRIS 


344 


MARION BUTLER . 


605 


R. B. HAYES . 


56 


HORACE BOIES 


182 


JOS. R. HAWLEY . 


145 


W. J. BRYAN . 


523 


BENJAMIN HARRISON 


56 


GROVER CLEVELAND 


271^ 


DAVID B. HILL 


. 254 


JOHN G. CARLISLE 


272^^ 


GARRET A. IIOBART 


, 487 


WM. E. CHANDLER 


128 


T"HOMAS JEFFERSON 


37 


CirAS.*F. CRISP 


110 


JAMES K. JONES . 


505 


SHELBY M. CULLOM . 


343 . 


ANDREW JACKSON 


38 


D. B. CULBERSON 


416 


HALE JOHNSON . 


592 


C. W. DEPEW . 


470 *^ 


ANDREW JOHNSON 


55 


I.W.DANIEL . 


415 


HENRY CABOT LODGE 


452 


FRED F. DUBOIS . 


74 — 


ABRAHAM LINCOLN 


55 


S. B. ELKINS . 


506 


JOSHUA LEVERING 


591 


MILLARD FILLMORE 


55 


JAMES MADISON . 


37 



\. 



22 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 





PAGE 


WM. Mckinley 


434 


JAMES MONROE . 


37 


JAMES MCMILLAN 


19 


K. Q. MILLS 


217 


LEVI P. MORTON . 


91 


KNUTE NELSON . 


289 


JAMES K. POLK . . 


38 


JOHN M. PALMER 


325 


FRANKLIN PIERCE . 


55 


ROBT. E. PATTISON 


379 


W. A. PEFFER 


92 


R. F. PETTIGREW 


380 


THOS. G. PLATT . 


488 


REDFIELD PROCTOR . 


398 


JAMES L. PUGH . 


. 397 


M. 8. QUAY 


451 


THOS. B. REED 


146 


AETHUB SEW ALL . . 


524 



JOHN SHERMAN . 
ADLAI E. STEVENSON 
WM. M. STEWART 
W. J. SEWELL 
JOHN TYLER . 
HENRY M. TELLER 
ZACHARY TAYLOR 
BENJ. R. TILLMAN 
DAVID TURPIE 
MARTIN VAN BUREN 
GEO. V. VEST . 
WM F. VILAS . 
GEORGE WASHINGTON 
WM. C, WHITNEY . 
WM. L.WILSON 
STEPHEN M WHITE . 
THOMAS E. WATSON . 



PAGE 

433~" 
308 
199 
290"-— 

38 
ir>4 

38 
109 
236 

.38 

20 

:m 

■i7 
253 _ 
218 
326 -—. 

606 



POLITICAL" LINES OF 1896. 



The campaign of 1896 has much in common with pre- 
ceding ones, yet is so different in vital respects as to be 
of an exceptional kind in American political history. 

The turmoil incident to a national election, the blight 
of uncertainty that settles on enterprise, the suspension 
of industrial and mercantile energies in the midst of ex- 
citement, have, too often, contributed to the feeling that 
Such an election was more of a visitation than a welcome 
event. 

Happily for the one now pending, it is eagerly looked 
to by all parties, and even by all classes of men, as an 
event which is to dispose of questions that move nearly 
concern their business efforts, mechanical skill and eco- 
nomic welfare, than their partisan prejudices. Never 
heretofore have the masses been in so subdued and 
thoughtful a mood, and never before have the issues in 
their hands for disposal reached down closer to their 
homes, pockets, prosperity and happiness. Therefore the 
campaign is more than ever a period of serious consider- 
ation rather than noisy excitement, and the election a 
welcome opportunity rather than a simple and recurrent 
political event. 

One feature not hitherto uncommon to national cam- 
paigns, and which, while fascinating, has been least pro- 
ductive of satisfactory results, is the outside place at pres- 

(.23) 



24 POLITICAL LIKES OF 1896. 

ent accorded to the politician pure and simple. This fea- 
ture has been prominent ever since the beginning of the 
presidential year. In all those preliminary stages of the 
campaign, when ground was being broken for the national 
conventions, and when political leaders expected to find 
rich soil in which to cultivate their crops of selfish pipe- 
laying and sordid patronage manipulation, they were, as a 
rule, relegated to the rear, or thwarted in their most cun- 
ning designs, by a majestic and irresistible flow of gen- 
eral sentiment. This was so marked in the Republican 
organization as to place both a unanimous party policy 
and a prospective candidate far beyond reach of ambitious 
coteries or scheming juntas ; and in the Democratic organ- 
ization, as to amount to a proclamation, "hands off till the 
hour of final counsel." 

And as the contentions took the glow and gleam of 
heated campaign, as the stump became radiant with con- 
troversy and redolent with eloquence, as the grand surges 
of political thought swept onward toward the goal of the 
ballot, more than ever was the politician lost sight of as 
either an animating or directing energy. He became as a 
mere piece of drift in a resistless current. There was no 
toleration of his presence or plans, no time nor opportu- 
nity for him to intrigue, flatter or control. 

In tlie two or three preceding presidential campaigns 
the presence of a cold-blooded, calculating element, capa- 
ble of dark, designing work which might have the effect 
of entrapping candidates, modifying vital party measures, 
securing dangerous selfish concessions, or entirely con- 
trolling the problems of defeat and victory, served to 
cloud and chill the situations, to provoke doubts and as- 
perities, and to degrade all the functions of open, honor- 
able canvass. Good men grew ashamed, earnest men lost 



rOLITICAL LINES OF 189G. 25 

heart, candid men became puzzled, convinced men wav- 
ered, those who sought conviction at the shrines of lead- 
ers came away in a shroud of doubt, or oftener, and 
what was worse, filled with false notions of duty to self, 
party and country. Such an element has been eliminated 
from this campaign by force of its very earliest conditions 
—a determination on the part of voters to think, speak 
and act more Largely and independently for themselves. 

The highest educative political forces, the most teach- 
able object lessons, of many years past, have so wrought upon 
individual welfares, have entered so minutely every sphere 
of activity, have so punctured every mind susceptible to 
impression, that independency has come to be looked upon 
as a salvation. What was once holy allegiance to party 
creed is now the application of experience— often hard 
and bitter experience— to the more immediate conditions 
of existence. The party shibboleth is as nothing com- 
pared with the ultimate principle, the overspreading, all 
pervading law, whose practical application means the 
mental and moral lifting up, the social and industrial bet- 
terment,of those whose destinies are in their own keeping. 
It is likely that the radical political revolutions of the 
last few years have done more to call the attention of 
voters to themselves, to their personal and home needs, to 
the effect of tried principles upon the nation, its institu- 
tions, its industries, its prosperity, than any other events 
could possibly have done. These revolutions have taught 
voters their power, yet at the same time that simple im- 
pulses should never be mistaken for judgments, and that 
where the latter strike so deeply as to leach the workshop 
and the hearthstone, they ought to be the most seriously 
considered of all judgments. They have still further 
taught that in the application of great economic laws and 



26 rOLITICAL LINES OP 1896. 

broad business pi-inciples to liuniaii situations, mutation, 
even when it assumes the brilliant and fascinating hues of 
revolution, may prove to be means of devastation rather 
than help. Saj'S that exquisite pundit, James Russell 
Lowell ; — 

" Cliauf^e jes for change is like them big hotels, 
Wliere they change phites and let you live on smells." 

But independenc}^ on the part of voters is often in- 
separable from a species of turbulency most distracting to 
exact campaign methods. However it may gratify per- 
sonal sentiment or conviction, whatever the effect may be 
on individual or general welfare, there is, for the time 
being, party disconcert, amounting to even the fracture 
of old established lines, to the enunciation of fresh prin- 
ciples, to the establishment of new parties, to the multi- 
plication of candidatures. The time has been when these 
have gone so far as to entirely befog real situations and 
to lead to results quite contrary to what was desired by 
anyone. The present situation may not, in all respects, 
exactly repeat that above alluded to, but if not, it is be- 
cause the average voter sought a landing place before he 
took his leap. He has not allowed broken party allegiance 
to run wild, but has anchored it quickly and spontaneously 
on a previousl}^ chosen bottom. In changing boats he has 
not become a waif, to be tossed helplessly on waves of 
tumultuous sentiment. Hence the very discords that 
have characterized former analogous situations and often 
thwarted their aims, are not now either dangerous or 
undesirable. Even supposing the disconcert to become 
most distracting, and the tumult most discordant, the 
life lines of very peculiar circumstances are out in pleni- 
tude, and voters can, if they choose, land themselves 



POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 27 

safely on friendly shores. Even supposing candidatures 
to be inordinately multiplied, the room for wise choice 
can hardly be said to be so curtailed as to provoke 
lengthy doubt or impel to disastrous mistake. 

And this is particularly true because in all the outcrops 
of the present campaign thus far, the matter of mere men 
has been subordinated to the matter of measures. Con- 
sidering the earnestness of all, the magnitude of measures, 
the solemnity of the political situation, what we as a peo- 
ple of workers and business are to escape, what to 
remedy, what to confront, there is no good reason to sup- 
pose that campaign beginnings do not exactly reflect 
their endings, and that the final verdict will be the procla- 
mation of a much needed and desirable result. 

This displacement of leaders, especially the candidates, 
by the measures they represent, happily leaves little 
provocation for vulgar, personal politics. All must re- 
member with humiliation the indecent opening of the 
campaign of 1884. For weeks, and even months, it was a 
game of personal sharpshooting, an occasion of revilement, 
a fiery furnace of character attacks and defences, most 
degrading to party honor and despicable in the eyes of 
individuals whatever their political predilections. Such 
an exhibition cannot be repeated now, if ever. Candidates 
are not standing for more than measures. In this, as very 
likely in all the political battles of the near future, it is 
hardly probable that voters will permit an overthrow of 
their deliberative mood, and an eclipse of issues at stake, 
by halting to indulge in the vile tactics of personalism. 

Honorable partisanship is the making of a campaign. 
As issues broaden and deepen, their very solemnity 
smoothes the rough and acerb edges of partisanship, gives 
it healthy tone, adapts it to the high and noble work of 



28 POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 

clear, fair, truthful statement, and calm, deliberative, 
forceful defence. The true partisan becomes the best of 
political school-teachers. He may be the statesman of the 
hour, the leader of the future. This campaign is prolific 
of opportunities for that class of partisans who have honest 
convictions, fearless natures, clear judgments, fair spirits 
and gifted expression. The partisan of only heated words, 
loud expletives, false assertions, specious logic and idle 
promises, will find himself without a mission, or ought to 
so find himself, at a time when dispassionate discussions 
should rule the hour and when all bitterness and falsehood 
should be at lowest discount. The orator of this grandest 
of all political occasions, a presidential election, will have 
before him such an audience as he never before addressed. 
It will be a large audience, for the masses are in motion ; 
a critical audience, for the masses are inquiring ; a studious 
audience, for the masses are thinking; a subdued audience, 
for the masses are not in jubilee humor, but in grimly de- 
fiant mood. A forcible fact is going to avail far more 
than a pyrotechnic spurt. Vituperative thunder is going 
to addle very few brains. Sophistical balloons will find 
themselves punctured ere they reach a floating medium. 
There maybe localities in which all this will prove an ex- 
ception, but they will be few and wide apart. There may 
be men foolish enough, or ignorant enough, to rely for 
argument and effort on sarcasm, bitterness, vituperation 
and deceit, but they will certainly look in vain for sjpirited 
applause or sincere converts. 

The activities and energies of the campaign can hardly 
fail to prove variegated and interesting. What will be 
lacking in the spectacular will be made up in that as- 
siduity of speech and competitive vigor of work which 
the political situation demands. The crisis warrants a 



POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 29 

' ' campaign of education ' ' in the highest and most 
diversified sense. The issues seek enlargement, require 
emphasis. Campaign agency must prove vigorous and 
untiring, energy, restless and persevering, devotion, 
sincere and uncompromising. 

National questions were never more national. So the 
popular verdict should be all the more dispassionate. 
This campaign and election should emphasize the era 
which notes the final departure of all dishonorable 
means for securing political victories. 

This campaign, as it surges along, makes rapid head- 
way toward the two only issues that the past few years 
have rendered logical and inevitable. The sweep of 
events has been so magnificent and irresistible as to 
crush out of sight party questions of minor m.oment, and 
to subordinate all lesser political differences to those of 
supreme magnitude. Ever since 1887, there existed a 
determination on the part of those who passed as tariff 
reformers to wage relentless war upon the existing 
economic system of the country. In the national battk- 
of 1888 they suffered single defeat. Not daunted, how- 
ever, they rendered the war more vigorously than ever, 
and in the national engagement of 1892 they scored 
a significant triumph, which they speedily put to use by 
overthrowing the tariff system of 1890, and introducing 
that quite opposite system of 1894. 

For reasons of whose accuracy everyone must be left 
to judge for himself, the country was dissatisfied with a 
regime so opposite to that which had been overthrown, 
and so full of melancholy contrasts with ifr. This dis- 
satisfaction was made manifest in the State elections ot 
1893. In the Congressional elections of 1894, it assumed 
the proportions of emphatic protest, and the political 



30 POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 

situation was entirely reversed. In 1895 the verdicts of 
disapproval were still stranger. Democracy lost in its 
very strongest holds. 

Here, then, was a full three year trend toward a 
culmination which was unavoidable in 1896. No matter 
what politicians, economists and parties thought, as to 
the propriety of a battle royal, in 1896, over the tariS 
issue, the voters themselves had seemingly determined 
in advance thas the time was opportune for them to re- 
cast their judgment of 1892. Thus there was no escape 
in 1896, from the issue that had not been allowed to 
rest for three years. There must be another trial of 
strength over a question so vital to national welfare and 
so intimately woven with individual prosperity. In all 
the preliminaries of the campaign of 1896, throughout 
all its earliest stages, the parties looked to such a trial 
as inevitable and braced themselves for it. But the 
tariff was not to be an issue merely ; it was to be the 
main issue. Nothing could eclipse it in importance. 
It meant meat, clothing and shelter for toilers. It meant 
revived industry, living wages, an era of restored pros- 
perity and happiness, where all was idleness, poverty 
and discontent. This on the one hand ; on the other 
liand it meant for those who saw in the tariff of 1894 the 
culmination of anti-protectionism an opportunity to 
confirm the wisdom of the doctrine they had carried to 
triumph in 1892, and had so fully and energetically in- 
corporated into our economic system. They could not 
but be eager to repeat that triumph, for them the tariff 
policy of th« country would be fixed in their favor for a 
generation at least. 

But while the parties with their banners were thus 
lining up for the tariff fray, there came upon them a 



POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 31 

diversion which quite transfixed them for a time at least. 
It could not be said to have come suddenly nor unex- 
pectedly, but its favor, manner and force were so over- 
whelming as to carry with it a sense of shock, if not 
dismay. The question of free silver coinage was an old 
one, and one which had been made familiar by its 
especial champion, Mr. Bland. It had been made a 
cardinal doctrine by the People's, or Populist, party in 
their platform of 1892, and had been stoutly advocated 
on the stump wherever that party exercised its cam- 
paign energies. With the spread of Populism in the 
West and South, it became more and more a party 
tenet, and its advocates in both Democratic and Repub- 
lican tanks made it stronger with themselves than their 
party allegiance. They used it in the Fifty-fourth 
Congress as a foil to the legislation which the House 
had passed, the condition being that no legislation of 
moment should be completed by the Senate unless it 
bore the free silver coinage stamp. 

Statesmen and publicists of both the leading parties 
felt that a grave political error had been committed in 
1892 by Mr. Cleveland's party managers in seeking al- 
liances with the Populists in the Western States. They 
were warned by the most astute minds in the Democratic 
party that such alliances would prove troublesome, it 
not fatal. But they adhered to their purpose, feeling 
that all was fair in politics, that the Republicans could 
receive no harder blow, and trusting to Mr. Cleveland's 
power to hold all that would be gained to strict party 
allegiance, and mould all to the dominant party will. 

It took but little time to ascertain that these alliances 
had given an impetus to the free silver coinage senti- 
ment, which threatens to sweep Democracy from its 



32 POLITICAL LiJSES OF 1896. 

ancient moorings. What it had sown was not the true 
seed, but dragons' teeth; what it had admitted into 
its citadel was not a helpful engine, but a Trojan 
horse. It became a rule at Democratic conventions in 
the West and South, and especially in those conven- 
tions whose main object was to elect delegates to the 
Chicago Convention, to declare in favor of the free 
coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1, which was one 
of the planks in the Populist platform of 1892, inserted 
at the Omaha Convention. 

In order to stem this rapidly rising silver tide, and to 
correct as far as possible the error of 1892, the admin- 
istration entered into contests in several States, notably 
in Kentucky, but with little avail. Its every advice 
and appeal either passed unheeded, or served to stir 
opposition to deeper depth and bitterer proportions. 
The tide daily grew higher and swept along more 
irresistibly. It took on more and more the lines of sturdy 
purpose and intelligent direction. Direct antagonism 
to the administration was courted rather than feared, 
and defiance became a test of faith in the free silver 
doctrine. 

INIeanwhile circumstances all contributed to a pos- 
sible coherence of the silver strength. The Prohibi- 
tionists met in National Convention at Pittsburgh in 
May, only to find that a large contingent of their 
strength was so infected with free silver coinage as 
to make its acceptance a condition of support of the old 
cardinal principles of the party. Being defeated, this 
"broad guage " contingent bolted the convention and 
nominated a ticket on a free silver coinage platform. 

In June, the Republicans met in National Convention 
at St. Louis. There also a free silver contingent was on 



POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 33 

hand, and in earnest demand for a free silver coinage 
plank in the platform of the party. Their request was 
denied, and they too bolted the convention to cast their 
political fortunes in with the other exponents of their 
doctrine. These bolts affected the respective parties 
more or less seriously. While they were deprecated, 
they served, perhaps, to clarify party situations; at least 
they served to encourage the free silver coinage senti- 
ment, and to render it brave for the work of closer 
amalgamation and final coherence. 

At length, the opportunity that had long been desired 
for a show of coherent strength and aggressive initial 
came with the Democratic Convention at Chicago, in 
July. A single test of strength showed that free silver 
coinage had captured the Democratic citadel, and that, 
as to aggressiveness, it was fully endowed with the old 
Democratic martial spirit. It would hear no concession 
or compromise, but enthroned itself as an only rightful 
master, determined that its cardinal doctrines which 
were many, novel, striking, and, as some say, dangerous, 
should henceforth bear the full Democratic stamp and 
possess the clear Democratic ring. 

This signal triumph gave new metes and bounds to 
the political situation. As to Democracy, it was a right- 
about-face of the oldest political organization in the 
country. It at once put the hitherto unorganized free 
silver element in possession of a party name and party 
machinery. It afforded them a nucleus around which 
every other free silver party, or element, by whatever 
name called, could rally. It imparted the prestige of 
generations of conflict to the newly pledged captors of 
a time-honored political army. The standard of Jeffer- 
son, the gonfalon of Jackson, the ancient spirit of 



34 POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 

battled-scarred Democracy, were all theirs by virtue of 
bravery and numbers, and for inspiration in fresli wars 
for newly engrafted principals. What matter if the 
dissaffected should bolt? Better that than divided 
counsels, or traitorous priests within the holy-of-holies. 
What matter if the unruly and untrue should set up 
counter tickets or go oflf into the wilderness of despair 
to worship strange gods? Every vacancy would be 
filled by two recuits. Thus hopefully did the enthusi- 
astic victors of Chicago reason, thus they presumed on 
the strength and character of their conquest. Their 
position had all the radiance of newly achieved glory, 
all the promise of a broad popular victory at the polls. 

Discomfitted and mourning Democrats likened the 
situation to that of 1860, when the party was rent into 
two irreconcilable factions over the question of slavery. 
They saw in the new departure of the majority of their 
party a step toward repudiation and anarchy, and they 
naturally likened it to a time when jDatriotism was pre- 
ferred to party allegiance. The problem was how best 
to cope with a situation they deemed revolutionary and 
dangerous. Should they cope with it by holding to the 
party name and making another nomination for Presi- 
dent? Should they quietly acknowledge the will of 
the majority and enter secret protest at the polls? Never 
had dilemma two such formidable horns. Both were 
charged with a voltage that rendered their touch 
hazardous. A second ticket would divert strength that 
ought to go to to the defeat of the first, and which 
might, in the end, only show the weakness of the mi- 
nority. To let matters drift might, in the end, be 
accepted as acquiescence in what they regarded as 
absurd politics and as an attact on national credit and 



POLITICAL LINES OP 1896. 35 

institutions. Time alone could bring about an intelli- 
gent decision. The new frontage of Democracy not 
only bore the seeds of disintegration on the winds of 
alarm, but it presented a stragetic problem to the 
Republicans who were fully committed to the dual doc- 
trines of sound money and protective tariff, They had 
even dug their trenches and stretched their tents on an 
alignment by means of which they could most success- 
fully resist a free trade onslaught. Should they shift 
position and re-arrange for a currency attack by flank 
and front? And if so, what was to become of the issue 
upon which they staked their most ardent hopes of 
success, which had for them involved a life or death 
principle throughout all the years of their existence? 
The Democratic dilemma became the Republican 
quandary. 

The judgment was eventually reached that the Repub- 
lican lines as first laid down were ample, with a little 
shifting so as to anticipate the free silver artillery 
charge, and a little strengthening in places, so as to 
provide against unexpected developments of strength by 
the enemy. It would still be an industrial battle as 
well as one of finance, but with the former as a reserve 
to the latter wherever the character of the fray deter- 
mined it v/ise. Thus the sudden and alarming diversion 
at Chicago would not necessarily prove fatal, however 
disturbing it might be to political calculations for a time. 

It is almost unnecessary to speak of the influence of 
the Chicago outcome upon the fortunes of the trium- 
phant majority of the Democratic party there, or 
rather upon the Democratic party as it existed after 
that triumph. Its platform called for much of a 
radical and impracticable nature, but on nothing go 



36 POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 

loudly, squarely and honestly as the free coinage of 
silver at a ratio of 16 to 1. This was the momentous 
and absorbing tenet. In this it was to be original, in 
this wholly at variance with ancient party traditions. 
On this it was to go before the country as an independ- 
ent pleader for suffrage. It would scarcely have another 
battle cry. Around this standard it expected to rally 
the disaffected of all parties. With this inspiration it 
confidently counted on a campaign as triumphant in the 
end as that which had placed a venerable Democracy 
within its control. If nothing occurred to thwart its 
plans or depress its hopes, the country would certainly 
witness one of the grandest of marches of sentiment 
toward a coveted destination. No political calculation 
could for a time compass this novel, persistent, daunt- 
less and enthusiastic force. It certainly had a right to 
the confidence its captains of Democracy inspired. It 
also had a right to pose as the central planet about 
which all other silver planets should revolve. Upon it 
would rest the responsibility of every initiative in the 
pending baftle, and with it would abide all the glories 
of victory or disgraces of defeat. Hence its boundless 
energy and restless determination ; hence also its right 
to expect, or even command, the adhesion of all senti- 
ment that looked toward free silver coinage as a relief 
from existing ills. 

At no stage of the campaign were party lines ever so 
tightly drawn as to exclude free intercourse between the 
pickets or free leaps over the parapets. This was 
essential. The educative work was stupendous — far 
more so than if tariff alone had been an only, or the 
prime, issue, for the average voter had made himself 
familiar with the objects and effects of a tariff. To 



POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 39 

Speak more accurately, the tariff had lost its mystery 
as an economical problem, and had become one of those 
every-day questions, comprehensive to everyone who 
had heads to shelter, mouths to feed, and backs to clothe. 

But it was not so with the financial question. The 
averment was that low prices, hard times, and every 
cognate ill, was due to the demonitization of silver, and 
would flee away under the spell of free and unlimited 
coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1. But who arose 
to prove all this ? It never at any time passed beyond 
the stage of vehement and plausible averment. And 
who understood all this? Certainly not the average 
voter to whom it was first introduced. Demonitization 
to him was the veriest Greek, and 16 to 1 was a Chinese 
puzzle. Ratios were as nothing compared with bread 
and butter. 

On the other hand the averment was that free silver 
coinage meant the repudiation of debts, the scaling 
of prices and wages, the introduction of panic, 
the destruction of credits, universal bankruptcy and 
demoralization. Admitting it all, still men would 
ask, how then comes it that so many advocates 
of disaster are found in the country ? How could these 
calamity seekers walk into a great conservative and 
patriotic convention and walk away with it bodily? 
How could they make so many and such easy converts 
in so short a time ? Surely there must be some mis- 
representation of a situation which proves so alluring 
and potential as to attract and hold as this one does! 
It cannot be that the multitude are so filled with the 
gadarene spirit as to wish to rush over the precipice 
into the sea! 

All along in the campaign it has been the wish of 



40 POLITICAL LINES OF 1896. 

every man of patriotic instincts, and the expectation of 
parties, that the leading issues, as already foreshadowed, 
should never be lost sight of, but should be persistently 
fought to a finish. As the country has seen, dalliance 
with a great economic and industrial problem, like the 
tariff, is destructive of energies and hopes, subversive 
of investment and enterprise, and quite as costly in the 
end as actual war. 

The same can be truthfully said of agitation 
respecting the country's currency and finances, espec- 
ially when such agitation is suddenly sprung by those 
who oppose the established usages of credit and ex- 
change, and who favor radical departures in the interest 
of debtor and against creditor. If they are right, the 
quicker they establish the fact the better. The indi- 
vidual creditor, the savings bank, the building associa- 
tion, the bank of deposit, the stock-and-bond-owing cor- 
poration, the pensioner, the day laborer, are all in sus- 
pense, 'till they know whether what they are entitled to 
is above or below par. If they are wrong, let the ver- 
dict be emphatic, as that they will not soon return to 
vex the country with sophistries, distract it with conten- 
tions, threaten it with sectional division, or endanger it 
with internal convulsion. Let the campaign be hard 
and earnest ; let the lines be clear and strong ; let the 
result be an explosion forever of wrong thought and 
dangerous principle, and the permanent establishment 
of right doctrine and righteous aspiration, no matter 
what the standard upon which they are inscribed. 



PRESIDENT MAKING SINCE 1788. 



ELECTORAL VOTE FOR PRESIDENT, 1892. 



Rppiiblican. Democrat. Populist, 
ototoo Basis of Votes. Ilanisun. Cleveland. Weaver, 

biates. i73,9ui. 

Alaliama 9 11 11 

Arkansas 6 8 8 

California 7 9 1 8 

Colorado 2 4 4 

Connectient 4 6 6 

Delaware 13 3 

Florida 2 4 4 

Georgia 11 13 13 

Idaho 1 3 3 

Illinois 22 '24 24 

Indiana ....13 15 15 

Iowa 11 13 13 

Kansas 8 10 10 

Kenlni'ky II 13 13 

Louisiana 6 8 " 8 

IMaine 4 6 6 

Maryland 6 8 8 

Massaclmsetts 13 15 15 

Michigan 12 14 9 5 

Minnesota 7 9 'J 

IMississippi 7 9 9 

IMissoui'i .15 17 17 

Montana 13 3 

Nebrnska 6 8 8 

Nevada 13 3 

New Haniiishjre 2 4 4 

New Jersey 8 10 10 

New York 34 36 3(i 

North Carolina 9 11 11 

North Dakota 13 3 

Oliio 21 23 22 1 

Oregon 2 4 3 1 

Pennsylvania 30 32 32 

Rhode Islnnd 2 4 4 

Soutli Cai-olina 7 9 9 

South Dakota 2 4 4 

Tennessee 10 12 12 

Texas 13 15 15 

Vermont 2 4 4 

Virginia 10 12 12 

Washington 2 4 4 

West Virginia '4 6 6 

Wisconsin 10 12 

Wyoming 13 3 12 

Totals 356 444 144 277 23 

The popular vote was— Cleveland, Democrat, 5.545.227; Harrison, Republicao, 
5,126,418; Weaver, Populist, 1,125,842; Bidwell, Prohibitionist, 262,386. 

(41) 



42 



PRESIDENT MAKING SINCE 1788. 



ELECTORAL VOTE OF 1888. 



Basis of 
States. 154,325- 

Alabama 8 

Arkansas 5 

California 6 

Colorado i 

Connecticut. ... 4 

Delaware I 

Florida 2 

Georgia 10 

Illinois 20 

Indiana 13 

Iowa II 

Kansas 7 

Kentucky Ii 

Louisiana 6 

Maine 4 

Maryland 6 

Massachusetts . . 12 

Michigan 11 

Minnesota 5 

Mississippi 7 

Missouri 14 

Nebraska 3 

Nevada i 

New Hampshire 2 
New Jersey. ... 7 

New York 34 

North Carolina. 9 

Ohio 21 

Orcpjon I 

Pennsylvania . ..28 
Rhode Island. . 2 
South Carolina. 7 

Tennessee 10 

Texas 11 

Vermont 2 

Virginia 10 

West Virginia. . 4 
Wisconsin 9 





Repu 


blican 




Benj. 


Levi 




Hariison, 


Mor 


Votes. 


Iiul. 


N. 


10 






7 
8 


's 




3 
6 


3 




3 






4 






12 






22 


22 




15 


15 




13 


13 




9 


9 




13 

8 






6 


6 




8 






14 


14 




13 


13 




7 


7 




9 
16 






5. 


5 




3 


>) 




4 


4 




9 
36 


36 




II 






23 


23 




3 


3 




30 


30 




4 


4 




9 






12 






13 






4 


4 




12 






6 






II 


II 





Democrat. 
Grover Allen G. 
Morton, Cleveland, Thurman, 
N. Y 



A_ 


Ohio. 


10 


10 


7 


7 


6 


6 


3 


3 


4 


4 


12 


12 



13 



9 
16 



9 
II 



13 



9 
16 



9 
II 



9 


9 


12 


12 


13 


13 


12 


12 


6 


6 



233 



168 



168 



Totals. .. .325 401 233 

The Poruij\R Vote.— Harrison, 5,438,157—20 States; Cleveland, 5,535, 
626 — 18 States; rrohibilion, 250,157; Labor, 150,624. 

4 



PRESTT>ENT MATCTNG SINCE 1788. 



43 



ELFXTORAL VOTE OF 1884. 



Democrat. Republican. 

Grover Thos. A. James G. John A. 

Basis of Cleveland, Hendricks, Blaine, Logan. 

States. 154,325 Votes. N. Y. Ind. Maine. 111. 

Alabama 8 lo lo lo 

Arkansas 5 7 7 7 

California 6 8 .. .. 8 8 

Colorado i 3 .. .. 3 3 

Connecticut. .. . 4666 

Delaware I 3 3 3 

Florida 2 4 4 4 

Georgia 10 12 12 12 

Illinois 20 22 .. .. 22 22 

Indiana 13 15 15 15 

Iowa II 13 .. .. 13 13 

Kansas 7 9 .. .. 9 g 

Kentucky 11 13 13 13 

Louisiana 6 8 8 8 

Maine 4 6 .. .. 6 6 

Maryland 6 8 8 8 

Massachusetts .. 12 14 .. .. 14 14 

Michigan 11 13 .. ., 13 13 

Minnesota 5 7 ,. .. 7 7 

Mississippi 7 9 9 9 

Missouri 14 16 16 16 

Nebraska 3 5 .. .. 5 5 

Nevada i 3 .. .. 3 3 

New Hampshire 2 4 . . . . 4 4 

New Jersey. ... 7 9 9 9 

New York 34 36 36 36 

North Carolina. 9 11 II 11 

Ohio 21 23 .. .. 23 23 

Oregon i 3 .. .. 3 3 

Pennsylvania. . .28 30 .. .. 30 30 

Rhode Island . . 2 4 . . . . 4 4 
South Carolina. 7999 

Tennessee 10 12 12 12 

Texas II 13 13 13 

Vermont 2 4 .. .. 4 4 

\'irginia 10 12 12 12 

West Virginia. .4 6 6 6 

Wisconsin 9 11 .. .. 11 n 

Totals 325 401 219 219 182 182 

Popular Vote. — Cleveland, 4,911,017 — States, 20; Blaine, 4,848,334 — 
States, 18; Butler, Greenback-Labor, 133,825 ; St. John, Prohibition, 151,809; 
Scattering, 11,362. 



44 PRERTDF.XT MAKTXG SINCE 1788. 

PREVIOUS ELECTORAL VOTES. 

Republican. 1 880. Democrat. 

James A. Garfield, O., 214 Winfield S. Hancock, N. Y., 155 

Chester A. Arthur, N. Y., 214 Wm. H. English, Ind., 155 

Total electoral vote, 369 ; 38 .States. 

Popular Vote. — Garfield, 4,449,053 — 19 States; Hancock, 4,442,035 — 19 
States; Weaver, Greenback, 308,578 ; Prohibition, 10,305 ; American, 707 ; 
Scattering, 989. 

Republican. 1876. De}nocrat. 

R. B. Hayes, Ohio, 185 S. J. Tilden, N. Y., 184 

W. A. Wheeler, N. Y., 185 T. A. Hendricks, Ind., 184 

Total electoral vote, 369; 38 States. 

Popular Vote. — Hayes, 4,033,950 — 21 States; Tilden, 4,284,885 — 17 

States; Cooper, Greenback, 81,740; Smith, Prohibition, 9,522; American, 
539; Scattering, 14,715. 

Republican. 1 872. Democrat. 

Ulysses S. Grant, 111., 286 Horace Greelej' 

Henry Wilson, Mass., 286 B. Gratz Brow! 

Total electoral vote, 366; 37 States. 

Popular Vote. — The death of Mr. Greeley before the electoral count 
caused the scattering of his 66 votes among various candidates. The votes 
of Louisiana and Arkansas vi^ere not counted on account of fraudulent returns. 
Grant, 3,597,071—31 States; Greeley, 2,834,079—6 States; O'Connor, Labor, 
29,408; Black, Prohibition, 5,608. 

Republican. 1 868. Democrat. 

Ulysses S. Grant, 111., 214 Horatio Seymour, N. Y., 80 

Schuyler Colfax, Ind., 214 Francis P. Blair, Mo., 80 

Total electoral vote, 317; 34 States; Mississippi, Texas and Virginia still in 
rebellion, and not voting. 

Popular Vote.— Grant, 3,015,071—26 States; Seymour, 2,709,613—8 
States. 

Republican. 1864. Democrat. 

Abraham Lincoln, 111., 212 Geo. B. McClellan, N. J., 21 

Andrew Johnson, Tenn., 212 Geo. H, Pendleton, Ohio, 2i 

Total electoral vote, 314; not voting, 11 States in rebellion. 

Popular Vote.— Lineoln, 2,216,067— 22 States; McClellan, 1,808,725— 
3 States. 



PRESTPP^XT MAKING STXCE 1788. 45 

Republican. i860. Democrat. 

Abraham Lincoln, 111., 180 Stephen A. Douglas, 111., 12 

Hannibal Hamlin Me., 180 H. V. Johnson, Ga., 12 

Jno. C. Breckinridge, Ky., 72 
J. Lane, Oregon, 72 

Constitutional Union. 

John Bell, Tenn., 39 

Edward Everett, Mass., 39 
Total electoral vote, 303 ; 33 States. 

Popular Vote.— Lincoln, 1,866,352—17 States, N.J. divided; Douglas, 
1,375,157—1 State, N. J., divided; Breckinridge, 845,763—11 States; Bell, 
589,581 — 3 States. 

Democrat. 1856. . Republican. 

James Buchanan, Pa., 174 Jno. C. Fremont, Cal., 114 

Jno. C. Breckinridge, Ky., 174 William L. Dayton, N. Y., 114 

American. 
Millard Fillmore, N. Y., 8 
A. J. Donelson, Tenn., 8 
Total electoral vote, 296; 31 States. 

Popular Vote. — Buchanan, 1,838,169 — 19 States; Fremont, 1,341,264 — 
II States; Fillmore, 874,534 — I State. 

Democrat. 1852. WJiig. 

Franklin P^earce, N. H., 254 Winfield Scott, Va., 42 

William R. King, Ala., 254 Wm. A. Graham, N. C, 42 

Total electoral vote, 296; 31 States. 

Popular Vote.— Pearce, 1,601,474 — 27 States ; Scott, 1,386,578— 4 States; 
Hale, 156,149. 

Whig. 1848. Democrat. 

Zachary Taylor, La., 163 Lewis Cass, Mich., 127 

Millard Fillmore, N. Y., 163 Wm. O. Butler, Ky., 127 

Total electoral vote, 290 ; 30 States. 

Popular Vote. — Taylor, 1,360,101 — 15 States; Cass, 1,220,544 — 15 
States; Van Buren, N. Y., Free-soil Dem., 291,263. 

Democrat. 1844. Whig. 

James K. Polk, Tenn., 170 Henry Clay, Ky., 105 

George M. Dallas, Pa., 170 Theo. Frelinghuysen, N. J., 105 

Total electoral vote, 275 ; 26 States. 



46 PRESIDENT MAKING SINCE 1788. 

Popular Vote.— Polk, 1,337,243—15 Slates; Clay, 1,299,068—11 States; 
Birney, 62,300. 

Whig. 1840. Democrat. 

William Henry Harrison, Ohio, 234 Martin Van Buren, N. Y., 60 

John Tyler, Va., 234 R. M. Johnson, Ky., 48 

Total electoral vote, 294 ; 26 States. 

Popular Vote. — Harrison, 1,275,017 — 19 States; Van Buren, 1,128,702 
— 7 Stales; Birney, 7,059. 

Democrat. 1 836, Whig. 

Martin Van Buren, N. ¥., 170 Wm. H. Harrison, O., 73 

R. M. Johnson, Ky., 147 F. Granger, N. Y., 77 

Total electoral vote,- 294; 26 States. 

Popular Vote. — Van Buren, 761,549 — 15 States; Harrison, 7 States; 
White, 2 States ; Webster, I State ; Mangum, i State — 236,656 votes. 

Democrat. 1832. N^at. Republican. 

Andrew Jackson, Tenn., 219 Henry Clay, Ky., 49 

Martin Van Buren, N. Y., 189 J. Sergeant, Pa., 49 

Anti- Mason. 
William Wirt, Va., 7 
Amos Ellmaker, Pa., 7 
Total electoral vote, 288. 

Popular Vote. — Andrew Jackson, 687,502; Henry Clay, 530,189; Wil- 
liam Wirt, 33,108. 

Democrat. 1828. Nat. Republican. 

Andrew Jackson, Tenn., 178 Jno. Q. Adams, Mass., ?>t, 

Jno. C. Calhoun, S. C, 171 Richard Rush, Pa., 83 

Total electoral vote, 261. 

From the time of the disputed election, which resulted in the choice of 
John Adams, the popular vote began to be regarded as of importance. 

Popular Vote. — Jackson, 647,231 — States, 15 ; Adams, 509,097 — States. 9 

Republican. 

1824. Andrew Jackson, Tenn., 99 ^ 

John Q. Adams, Mass., 84 ( r- „ -j . 

W. H. Crawford, Ga., 41 \ ^'"' P^"^^'^^- 

Henry Clay, Ky., 37 J 



Tot.al electoral vote, 261 



Jno. C. Calhoun, S. C, 182 ) j. ., „ ■, ^ 
N. Sanford, N. Y., 30 K"'' ^•-^'-^^'«^«'- 



PRESIDENT MAKIKG SINCE 1788. 47 

There being no choice for President under the Twelfth 
Amendment to the Constitution, which requires that a can- 
didate shall have a majority of all the electoral votes, the 
election was thrown into the House. In the contest in the 
House, Clay, who was out of the fight, threw his strength, 
or as much of it as he could control, to Adams, which gave 
him 13 States, as against 7 for Jackson and 4 for Crawford. 
Though the election of Adams was perfectly regular and 
constitutional, it forced the liberal and strict schools of in- 
terpreters wide apart, and the latter, carrying their fight to 
the country in the shape of a rebuke to those Representa- 
tives who had slaughtered Jackson, soon had the vantage 
ground. 

Kepiibliciut. 
182a James Monroe, Va., 231 

Daniel D. Tompkins, N. Y., 218 
Total electoral vote, 235. The Missouri vote was disputed; and New 
Hampshire gave one vote to J. Q. Adams. 

Republican. 1 81 6. Federal. 

James Monroe, Va., 183 Rufus King, N. Y., 34 

Daniel D. Tompkins, N. Y., 183 No nom. for V.-P. 

Total electoral vote, 221. 

Republican. 1812. Fed. or Clinton Dent. 

James Madison, Va., 12S De Witt Clinton, N. Y., 89 

Elbridge Gerry, Mass., 131 Jared Ingersoll, Pa., 86 
Total electoral vote, 218. 

Republican. 1808. Federal. 

James Madison, Va., 122 C. C. Pinckney, S. C, 47 

George Clinton, N. Y., 113 Rufus King, N. Y., 47 
Total electoral vote, 176. 

Republican. 1804. Federal. 

Thomas Jefferson, Va., 162 C. C. Pinckney, S. C, 14 

George Clinton, N. Y., 162 Rufus King, N. Y., 14 

Total electoral vote, 176. 



48 PRESIDENT MAKING SINCE 1788. 

This was the first National election which distinguished 
between nominees for President and Vice-President, under 
Twelfth Amendment to Federal Constitution. 

Republican. i8oo. Federal . 

Thomas Jefferson, Va., 73 John Adams, Mass., 65 

Aaron Burr, N. Y., 73 C. C. Pinckney, S. C, 64 

As there was, up till this time, no distinction between 
nominees for President and Vice-President — the one having 
the highest number of votes being the President — and Jeffer. 
son and Burr having each 73 votes, the election went to the 
House, where a prolonged and bitter struggle ensued, re- 
sulting in the choice of Jefferson. This dispute led to the 
adoption of the Twelfth Amendment to the Constitution. 

Federal. 1796. Republican. 

John Adams, Mass., 71 Thomas Jefferson, Va., 68 

Thos. Pinckney, Md., 59 Aaron Burr, N. Y,, 30 
Total electoral vote, 138. 

P^Jeral. 1792. Republican. 

George Washington, Va., 132 Geo. Clinton, N. Y., 50 

John Adams, Mass., 77 

Total electoral vote, 135. 

1788. 
George Washington was nominated by a caucus of the 
Continental Congress. The State Legislatures chose elec- 
tors for President and Vice-President on the first Wednes- 
day' of January, 1789. These electors voted on the first Wed- 
nesday in February, casting 69 votes for Washington as 
President, and 34 for John Adams as Vice-President. 
Washington was sworn into office by Chancellor Living- 
stone on April 29, 1789. 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 



Political parties are inseparable from republican in- 
stitutions. The}^ are the birth of free thought and ex- 
pression. If at all times they are the birth of high and 
noble sentiment and have for a purpose something definite 
and useful, they are both a necessity and blessing. If, on 
the contrary, they find birth in ignorance, fanaticism or 
sheer arbitrariness, and in their exercise of power use only 
low and brutish forces, they become elements of danger, 
and are not to be classed as among the welcome political 
energies. 

Happily for our free institutions, volcanic parties* those 
of quick rise and fierce outburst, those that bear on their 
foreheads their own danger signal, are of sliort life. This 
is so for two great reasons. First, a high state of effer- 
vescence soon exhausts itself, and a high state of explos- 
iveness generally leads to a speedy bursting of the bands 
of organization. Second, the sober intelligence of the 
country, the property instinct, the solid business interests, 
the peace and order sentiment, will not, for any long time, 
tolerate threats of danger or intolerable disturbance. 

There are therefore philosophers who look upon parties 
of any and every kind as essential. Their argument is 
that no matter what may be the aim of a party, nor liow 
narrow and fanatical, or even dangerous, it may be, it is 
better that it should find the rebuke and correction which 

(49) 



50 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

an outlet affords, than smoulder and consume like some 
internal fire, and thus prolong apprehension of irruption. 
This argument shows a high appreciation of the corrective 
forces in society, and a strong reliance on the conservatism 
of our institutions. And it has the historic fact to sup- 
port it, that as" yet excessive partyism has somewhat re- 
sembled violent disease, and run a swift course without 
detriment to a resolute constitution. Washington's opin- 
ion of political parties was this : " From the natural 
tendency of governments of a popular character, it is 
certain there will always be enough of party spirit for 
salutary purposes. And there being constant danger of 
excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, 
to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it 
demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into 
flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume." 

Names and Drift of Parties. 

Party names are frequently misnomers, in so far as they 
reflect the principles and objects of parties. Some have 
been assumed hastily, by force of outward circumstances, 
and without reference to preconceived purposes. Others 
have been forced upon new political organizations in a 
spirit of the ludicrous, or as a likeness of something fa- 
miliar, or as an expression of intense enmity. Thus 
" Whig" came into use in America, as a distinctive and 
honorable party name, for no other reason than because it 
was familiar and suited an existing fancy. In its colonial 
sense it was a convenient set-off to the title " Tory," but 
in its truly national sense, and as the designation of the 
successor to the National Republican party, or as descrip- 
tive of one who favored internal improvements, a protect- 
ive tariff, and a strong central government, or as the op- 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 61 

posite of " Democrat," it had no significance whatever. 
"Whig " was originally the word " Whiggamore," a mem- 
ber of a body of insurgents, carters and others, who 
marched from the southwest of Scotland upon Edinburgh, 
in 1648, in opposition to the compromise with Charles I. 
Tlieir cry of Whiggam, used in driving their horses, gave 
them the title of " Whiggamore raiders." The name, in 
the contracted form of Whig, passed, in a spirit of deri- 
sion to the Presbyterian rebels of the west of Scotland. 
After the restoration, 1660, it was applied to the Round- 
heads or Parliamentarians, as opposed to the Cavaliers. 
Still a nickname, and opposed to that other nickname, 
" tor}^" it came to designate the liberal, or country, party 
of England, a use that was continued till the title " Tory " 
was lost in that of "Conservative," after 1832. 

" Tory " itself was an English party nickname for a 
hundred and fifty years, and while it covered those who 
sustained the court and the divine risjht of king's, its orisf- 
inal ose by the Whigs was to confuse all Tories with the 
tories or outlaws, inhabiting the Irish bogs. So the word 
"locofoco" as a designation of Democrat, and hence of 
the party, sprang into popular use, after 1835, througli the 
incident of re-lighting the extinguished gas in Tammany 
Hall b}' means of friction matches, then a new device, and 
called "locofocos." The title "Know Nothing," was 
meaningless as to the principles of the American party, 
and only indirectly perpetuates the fact tliat it grew out 
of a set of secret societies. 

But a greater anomaly as to political parties is that 
where they exist for any great length of time they fre- 
quently cross their principles, and sometimes drift en- 
tirely away from the intentions of their founders. In 
such instances, where original principles are lost sight of, 



52 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

the party name becomes a mere shibboleth, and blind 
partyism usurps intelligent adherence to principles. A 
party in such a strait is more of an obstruction and 
menace than a purifying, progressive and exalting agency, 
and it may well be questioned whether it is any longer 
entitled to the use of an ancient and honorable name. 

Early Parties. 

The Colonial period could develop no national parties 
as we now know them, for the colonies were disjointed. 
But as the}' began to adhere over the question of tax- 
ation without representation, two orders of thought arose, 
one of which favored the right of the British parliament 
to tax America, and the other opposed it. These same 
orders of thought existed in England, the former being 
designated by Tory and the latter by Whig, and these 
names were readily transferred to America. The Tory 
remained the fast friend of English sovereignty on our 
soil. The Whig, at first only an opponent of parlia- 
mentary claims, drifted into a Colonial unionist without 
separation from the mother country, and finally into a 
unionist with separation. 

The Declarati'on of Independence and the Revolution- 
ary war brouglit the Tory party under odium and left it 
without a mission on American soil. Its members be- 
came enemies of the country, and even traitors. As a 
party it met a speedy and deserved death. The prin- 
ciples of tlie Whig party became overwhelming, but its 
name grew to be traditional, through the almost universal 
use, according to locality or fancy, of such equivalents as 
"Popular Party," "Party of Independence," "American 
Party," " Liberty Party," " Patriots," etc. 

The Whig idea both brought about the Confederation 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 53 

and forced its abandonment. It equally substituted the 
Constitution for the Articles, and Union for Confederacy. 
The Tory title being a thing of the past, there was little 
use for its antithesis. Whig. The dominant idea under 
the new constitution was how to unite the states more 
firmly, and how to provide for peace and war. This was 
federalism, or whigism under changed auspices, and in a 
new political role. Whigs lost their name entirely in the 
title Federalists. The Federal party became the national 
party, and in a certain sense the nation, for as yet Anti- 
Federalism had not become coherent, had accepted even 
what it opposed, so as not to jeopardize the experiment of 
Union. Thus Federalism, which was responsible for the 
new government, naturally sought its strength and per- 
petuity, by throwing all doubtful constructions of the 
Constitutions in favor of the central authority ; that is, 
it interpreted the Constitution openly and liberally, saw 
in it a spirit as well as a letter, looked upon government 
under it as a creation with powers and functions to bo 
questioned only by the people at large. 

Now that the experiment of popular government had 
been fully launched, and the fact of a Union was no 
longer in danger, the Anti-Federal spirit of the day began 
to take shape. It assumed the negative of the proposition' 
of government as laid down by Federalism, and inclined 
to such a construction of the Constitution as would throw 
all doubt in favor of the States ; that is, it interpreted 
the instrument closely, regarding it as an inelastic code, 
and government under it as simply an aggregate of 
powers with which the States had parted, and which they 
alone in their sovereign capacity were at liberty to ques- 
tion, or, if need be, recall. 

These may be regarded rather as schools of thought 



54 PAKTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

tlian as active and antagonistic political parties, yet they 
laid the foundation of subsequent parties, coherent in 
organization and with contra-distinguisliing titles. While 
both schools were united as to the policy of a protective 
tariff, the propriety of honoring Washington with a 
second term of office, and in general a scheme of funding 
the national debt, there was an unconscious drift apart 
upon the question of open or close construction of the 
Constitution, the trend of the liberal interpreters, or 
Federals, being more and more toward a fuller exercise 
of powers on the part of the national government, and of 
the close interpreters toward the doctrine of State rights. 
The adoption of the first ten amendments to the 
Constitution, which were regarded as in the nature of 
a declarative bill of rights, so disarmed all Anti- 
Federal opposition to the instrument, as to render 
the title " Anti-Federal " a party misnomer. Jefferson 
felt that it was a perpetual reminder of opposition to the 
fact of government, and that if ever the varying, and 
often discordant, sentiments it represented were to be 
crystalizcd, some new and more appropriate name must 
be adopted. His opportunity soon camci Aglow with 
tlie spirit of the French Revolution and the fires of the 
French Republic, his admiration, on his iieturn to tliis 
country, became infectious, even assuming the fantastic 
form of dress and manner. The P"'ederals, fearing the in- 
troduction of the ungovernable, leveling and communis^ 
tic spirit of France, opposed such threatened innova- 
tions, and became more coherent than ever as a party. 
In proportion, Jefferson and his admirers grew warmer, 
more united, more aggressive. Only a name and banner 
were needed to complete a formidable organization. These 
the genius of Jefferson supplied. His party should, first 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 67 

of all, be "Republican." That would set it off sharply 
agaiust Federalism. In order to group all elements within 
it, it should be " Democratic." What therefore so com- 
prehensive, popular and imposing as " Democratic — Re- 
publican," for that because the new party name, symbol 
of all opposition to Federal, crystalization of everything 
Anti-Federal. 

Then began partyism as we have known it ever since. 
The Federals denounced Democratic- Republicans as Jac- 
obins, held their pretensions up to contempt, and so ridi- 
culed their compound title as to force abandonment of its 
first part, leaving only the word " Republican " as the dis- 
tinctive and popular name. Nor was abuse wholly on 
the side of the Federals. The Republicans countered bit- 
terly, denouncing their opponents as aristocrats and mon- 
archists, and stirring all the fires of partisan animosity in 
the bosom of the masses. Such was the antagonism that 
Washington openly complained of it as a substitution of 
unjust suspicion and personal antipathy for the old spirit 
of friendly compromise. 

As already intimated this alignment of parties did not 
affect Washington's second election, though it brought 
the wrath of the Republicans on him and all Federals for 
their policy of neutrality between England and France. 
Jefferson left Washington's cabinet, and retired to his 
Virginia plantation to further develop, by writing and 
plan, the new Republican party of which he was the ac- 
knowledged founder. His master hand became visible in 
promoting attacks on the administration. The Republi- 
cans opposed indirect taxes with direct taxes, the liability 
of state to suit with the eleventh amendment to the Con- 
stitution, the Jay treaty with denunciation of Washington 
as an embezzler and usurper. 



:8 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

The expiration of Washington's second term brought 
the two parties into square contentions for that national 
supremacy indicated by the choice of a presidential candi- 
date. 

Federal and Republican Parties. 

In the national convention of 1796, the Federals, with 
John Adams as candidate, and with no platform, except 
the claim to represent Washington's policy of peace, neu- 
trality, finance, progress and safety, won a victory over 
the Republicans, with Thomas Jefferson as candidate, and 
with no platform except the claim to economy, enlarged 
liberty, rights of man and rights of states. But this vic- 
tory was rendered incomplete and partially barren by the 
choice of a Republican Vice President in the person of 
Thomas Jefferson, the election at that time being held 
through the state legislatures, and the candidate receiving 
next to the highest number of votes becoming the Vice 
President. 

During Adams' administration the Republicans gained 
ground by their opposition to the Alien and Sedition laws- 
But their most substantial gain was that indirect one 
which grew out of division in tlie Federal ranks. Adams 
had estranged such advisors as Hamilton, and had ignored 
his entire cabinet in his change of j)olicy toward France. 
Though nominated for the Presidency by the Federals in 
1800, the Republicans won a victory with Jefferson and 
Burr, the contest between these two being settled in the 
House of Representatives. 

The Republican victory ^vas nothing in its bearing on 
party lines as compared with the permanent breach in the 
Federal ranks. The strength and glory of Federalism 
seemed to have expended itself in placing the government 



PARTIES, PAST AND TKESENT. 59 

on a firm basis, in giving it such power as would make it 
respected at home and abroad, in restraining French Re- 
publican influence and in establishing a permanent policy 
of neutrality. The unanimity and boldnesss which had 
been equal to the solution of most intricate financial 
problems, to the provision of ample revenue, and to the 
building up of an enduring national credit, were in strange 
contrast with its divisions and weaknesses at the time the 
Republicans won their first national victory. 

Jefferson was supported by Republican majorities in 
both Houses of Congress. He mapped a vigorous policy 
for his party, and in his choice of officials, showed little 
mercy for the Federals. The act repealing the establish- 
ment of circuit courts drove the Federals from their last 
hold on the government, and they never recovered their 
lost ground. Though they largely typed the wealth, in- 
tellect and culture of the country, there seemed to be no 
escape from the blow of 1800. In 1804 they were van- 
quished in every state except Connecticut, Delaware and 
part of Maryland. Jefferson adroitly turned every new 
situation to popular account, and as he had the entire con- 
fidence of the masses, he kept his party on a happy van- 
tage ground with a vigor that was well-nigh autocratic. 
He gave to Republicanism a decided affirmative in action, 
and kept the Federals on a distractive defensive but little 
removed from the sharp agony that presaged a not dis- 
tant death. 

The unpopular Embargo Act of 1807 proved to be a 
Republican boomerang, by which the Federals profited to 
tiie extent of greatly reducing Republican majorities for 
INIadison as President and in the House. But threats of 
war with England, and finall}^ the war of 1812, served to 
render Madison's reelection sure. Just here a notable 



60 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

clnuige came over the spirit of the Republican party. 
TJie ordeal of war had taught it the necessity of doing 
many things for the safety of the country it had before re- 
pudiated as Federal measures. If Federalism was dying, 
Republicanism was honoring it by occupying its ground 
on most of the questions relating to national preservation. 
While dire emergency was the excuse, the same excuse 
had not been accepted as geod Federal logic. But more 
than this, a new school of thought had sprung up within 
Republican ranks. It was critical, independent, largely 
Federal in that it found in the preservation of our com- 
merce grounds for opposition to the war, progressive, in 
that it favored internal improvement, liberal in that it ob' 
jected to the Republican idea of strict construction. It 
did not dread the title Jacobin, and was ratlier pleased 
with the title Democrat. Indeed, as Clintonian Demo- 
crats, it made its presence and strength felt in the na- 
tional election of 1812, when it nominated De Witt Clin- 
ton for the presidency, which nomination was accepted by 
the Federals as the best that then offered. 

President Madison felt that the peace of 1814, meaning 
less though it was, was a narrow escape for him and tlie 
Republican party. The war, unpopular though it was, 
had proven another nail in the Federal coffin. Inflamed ' 
partisanship formed in the Hartford convention a weapon 
both keen for cutting and blunt for beating. The Federal 
decay was thenceforth rapid. The party nominated Rufus 
King for the presidency in 1816, but carried only Massa- 
chusetts, Connecticut and Delaware. 

Upon the election of Monroe, in 1816, came what was 
called " The era of good feeling." Organized Federal 
opposition had nearly ceased. The Republican House or- 
ganized by the unanimous election of Henry Clay as 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 61 

Speaker. He was one of the liberal and advanced Re- 
publicans, able to carry his party with him as to protec- 
tion, internal improvement, and even the establishment 
of a national bank, all favorite Federal measures. Calhoun 
belonged to his school of thought. President Monroe 
favored it. The old, or strict construction, school of Re- 
publicans looked with alarm on the daily growing strength, 
number and boldness of the new element in their ranks. 
The movement, so ably led, so aggressive, so fully sup- 
ported by Federal aid as to absorb the remains of that 
party and stamp its extinction as complete, proved to be 
the germ of a new party, whose growth was hastened by 
the slavery discussions over the entry of Missouri as a 
State in 1818-20, and by the distinct affirmation of the 
protective doctrine in the same years. The latter doctrine 
fairl}- divided the Republican ranks. 

There were really no political parties in 1820, Monroe 
being chosen President without opposition, and without 
even a nomination by the Republicans. In the IGth Con- 
gress, Nov. 1820, Clay resigned the Speakership of the 
House. The election of his successor showed that the 
new and liberal wing of the Republican party was now the 
stronger, for Taylor of New York, the successful candi- 
date, was equally, if not furtlier, advanced than Clay in his 
advocacy of a protective tariff and internal improvements, 
and in his opposition to the extension of slavery in the 
territories. 

During Monroe's second term, 1821-25, the contention 
between the old school element of the Republican party 
and the new, or liberal, school, grew bitter, and the breach 
rapidly widened. Monroe broke with the liberals, and 
opposed internal improvement. The contention reached 
down to the masses. The election of Clay as Speaker of 



62 PARTIES, fAST AND PRESEi^T. 

tlie House in 1823, was heralded as a significant victory 
of the Liberal Republican wing, which now took the 
affirmative of all national questions. Clay had already 
foreshadowed the "Monroe Doctrine," and Monroe swunsf 
back sufficiently to the liberal side to favor, in his message 
of 1823, the tariff act of 1824, and a plan of internal 
improvement, thus emphasizing, what became known as 
" The Amei'ican System." 

In the national election of 1824, known as the "Scrub 
race," the two Republican wings ran separate presidential 
candidates, the Liberals supporting Clay and Adams, and 
the strict-coustructionists Crawford and Jackson. The 
election went to the House, and John Adams was chosen. 
This result practically disrupted the Republican party and 
sounded its death knell. It was now to find a grave with 
its deceased antagonist, the Fedeial party, which it had 
outlived for but a few years. They both died of the same 
disease, inanition due to violent disruption. 

Whig and Democratic Parties. 

The political movement which, as we have just seen, had 
ripened within the Republican ranks, and had broken them 
in twain, was now ready for separate identity under a na- 
tional name. But a proper title was not easy to be found 
at first. The right name must be evolved by the ferment 
of the situation. Adams, as was to be expected, entered 
on his administration with the Crawford adherents dead 
against him. These belonged to the "straightest sect" of 
strict constructionists. It was but reasonable for Adams 
to expect the support of Jackson and his followers, for all 
these had mostly inclined to the old Federal ideas of pro- 
tection and internal improvement, and in this respect had 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 63 

cooperated with Clay in biingiiig about revolution in the 
Republican ranks. 

But Jackson was embittered by his defeat by Adams, 
and he and his forces joined those of Crawford in opposi- 
tion to Adams' administration. Adams had made Clay his 
Secretary of State. This opened the way for charges of 
collusion between Adams and Cla}^ and much crimination 
and recrimination followed, serving to unite more closely 
the followers of Crawford and Jackson, as well as those of 
Adams and Clay. 

President Adams, in both his inaugural and first mes- 
sage to Congress, mapped a set of principles which, as to 
protection, internal improvement and liberal construction 
of the Constitution, answered as a permanent bond of 
agreement between his own followers and those of Clay. 
Thus solidified, the party, noAv virtually a separate one, 
with distinctive principles, and with John Adams as its 
candidate for President in 1828, adopted for its name that 
of "National Republican," though it passed through that 
campaign under the general designation of " Adams Men." 
The title " National Republican " was comprehensive and 
excellently chosen, for it not only showed that the new 
party had germinated within the old Republican ranks, but 
that it had assumed independent being as a liberal, or na- 
tional interpreter of the Constitution. But accurate and 
full of meaning as the title was, it was bound, by that 
strange fatality which sometimes attends party names, to 
be of short duration, for in a few years it was pushed aside 
to make room for the meaningless title of " Whig." 

The Crawford and Jackson followers were united only 
in their opposition to the National Republicans. No doubt 
they would have perpetuated the title of Republican in 
the campaign of 1828, but for the fact that Crawford Avas 



64 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

sick, and it required the tremendous personalism of Jack- 
son to hold the two opposing wings of the party together. 
This he did by becoming a candidate for the Presidenc}^ 
against Adams, and by dropping the title Republican al- 
together, his followers becoming known as "Jackson Men," 
in contradistinction to "Adams iNIen." 

But as the title " Adams Men " only temporarily usurped 
that of "National Republican," so when it became neces- 
sary to get rid of the personalism of Jackson, the title 
" Jackson Men " began to give away to something else. 
Men like Calhoun and others, who never cared for the 
name Republican, preferred to be spoken of as " Demo- 
crats." The title "Democrat" could not, however, be at 
once projected on the party, for Jackson's personalism was 
yet too strong, and if his own name was to be lost as a party 
shibboleth, he preferred that it should be swamped by a re- 
vival of the old Republican name, rather than by the new 
name of Democrat, especially since the latter had been 
proposed by the ultra wing of strict-constructionists. 

The time when "Democrat" began to have meaning in 
a party sense, and as comprehensive of " Jackson Men," or 
of Republican, and as expressive of definite principles, 
was in 1831, preparatory to the presidential election of 
1832. Yet even in that election, the transition to " Demo- 
crat " was not complete, for the Jackson, or Republican, 
ticket was thus headed " Democrat-IxepuhJican ticket for 
Prenident in 1S32, Andretv Jackson^ While this compro- 
mise title showed the elimination of Jackson's personal- 
ism to a certain extent, it showed also that the time was 
not yet ripe for the entire dropping of the old word "Re- 
publican" and the complete substitution of the new word 
" Democrat." This substitution was not completed until 
1832-33. 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 65 

In 1832, the ticket of tlie National Republican party 
was headed, "■ Natioyial Repuhlican Candidate for President 
in 18S2, Henry Clay" thus showing that the title had come 
into full recognition prior to that time. 

In the national campaign of 1832, the National Repub- 
licans, with Clay as their nominee, defined their principles 
as tariff, internal improvement, question of removing 
the Cherokee Indians, renewal of United States Bank 
Charter. The Democrat-Republican published no declar- 
ation of principles, they being agitated within either by 
the grave question of nullification, or by serious divisions 
respecting the tariff. In the former, Jackson scored a sig- 
nal triumph, after his election. Respecting the latter, Clay 
effected one of his disastrous compromises, by accepting 
the ten year scaling tariff of 1832-42. 

Jackson's financial policy, especially that relating to the 
destruction of the United States Bank, together with dis- 
satisfaction respecting the workings of the sliding scale 
tariff, intensified opposition to his second administration, 
and to his party, which had by this time adopted the single 
term " Democrat." Party antagonism was heightened by 
the bursting on the country of the panic of 1837. During 
the latter part of Jackson's administration, the title " Whig " 
had come into general use as a substitute for tliat of Na- 
tional Republican, and as a party designation it was com- 
plete in the National campaign of 18'!6. 

In order to head off the strict State -rights Democrats 
of the South, who had early nominated H. L. White, of 
Tennessee, for the Presidency, the forces of Martin Van 
Buren,whom Jackson desired should be his successor, met 
in popular convention in Baltimore in Ma}^ 1835, nomi- 
nated Van Buren for President, and set forth a platform, 



66 PARTIES, PAST AKD PRESENT, 

the most important plank in which was adherence to gold 
and silver as a circulating medium. 

The members of this convention were not designated as 
Democrats, but as " Locofocos," a term which had sprung 
into popular use the year before, and which grew out of 
an incident at Tammany Hall, New York, in which the 
lights were put out during a Democratic meeting, and re- 
lit b}^ means of locofoco matches, then a new invention. 

Thus "Locofoco" and "Whig," coming into popular 
use at nearly the same time, were fair set-offs to each, 
other, and one was as meaningless as the other. 

In this campaign of 1836, tlie Whigs, Anti-Masons, and 
some other opponents of Van Buren nominated William 
Henry Harrison, of Ohio, for president. Van Buren was 
elected. During the closing days of Jackson's second 
administration a new and hitherto silent force, known as 
the National Anti-Slavery Society, incorporated in 1833, 
began to make itself felt in a political way. By means 
of lectures and literature it had given offence to the 
South, and a strenuous effort was made to deny it the 
use of the United States mails. But Congress was not 
yet found ripe for so hazardous an experiment. 

Van Buren felt himself to be the executor of Jackson's 
financial policy, but the crisis of 1837, and a violent fac- 
tion of his own party, calling themselves "Conservatives," 
caused tlie 25th Congress to defeat some of his pet schemes 
of finance. This Congress, too, was the scene of long 
debates over the question of Federal control of slaver}", 
a question that entered nearly every subsequent congress 
till 1863. 

In 1840 the Whigs nominated William Henry Harrison 
for president, without a platform. The Democrats renomi- 
nated Martin Van Buren, with a length}- platform, which 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 67 

is curious as serving to shape Democratic policy for a long 
time, if not even to the present day. Its gist was (1) 
The Federal Government is one of limited powers. 

(2) The Constitution does not confer on the Government 
the right to carry on a system of internal improvement. 

(3) Nor to assume the debts of the States contracted for 
internal improvement. (4) Justice and sound policy 
forbids the Government to foster one branch of industry 
to the detriment of another, or one section to the injury 
of another. (5) Economy urged. (6) Congress has no 
power to charter a United States Bank. (7) No power to 
interfere with the domestic institutions of the States. (8) 
Government money must be separated from banking insti^ 
tutions. (9) This country is an asylum for the oppressed 
of all nations. 

The Liberty Party. 

During this campaign, the Abolition or Liberty party 
first openly appeared in the political arena, with James 
G. Birney, as its candidate for President, and with a plat- 
form favoring the abolition of slaveiy in the District of 
Columbia, and in the Territories ; stoppage of the inter- 
state slave trade ; and opposition to slavery to the fullest 
extent of all Constitutional powers. 

General Harrison was elected, but died April 4, 1841, 
leaving Tyler as his successor. Then came an era of 
antagonism between the President and the Whig majority 
in Congress, pending which Tyler was excommunicated 
by his party. The Whigs were greatly demoralized by 
Tyler's defection, and it was only with the greatest diffi- 
culty, and after repeated modifications, that they secured 
Presidential sanction of their favorite measure, the tariff 
act of 1842. Clay became so disgusted with attacks upon 



68 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESEMT. 

him, and with public life in general, that lie resigned from 
ths Senate. This was a terrible blow to the Whigs, for 
in Clay's action they had lost their recognized leader.. 
They lost the Congressional elections of 1842, and were 
further demoralized by divisions over a policy suited to 
the questions of slavery and Texas annexation. 

In the campaign of 1844, the three existing political 
parties were in the field. The Liberty party nominated 
for president, James G. Birney, of Michigan, and adopted 
a platform which was explicit in its denunciation of slavery 
and the slave trade. 

The Whigs nominated Henry Clay for president, on a 
platform declaring for well regulated currency ; tariff for 
revenue, but discriminating in favor of domestic labor ; 
distribution of proceeds of sales of public lands ; single 
term for the presidency ; reform of executive usurpation. 

The Democrats tried to nominate Van Buren, but his 
defeat was accomplished by the adoption of the two-thirds 
rule for securing a nomination, a practice that has held 
ever since in Democratic national conventions. The 
r.ominee became James K. Polk, of Tennessee, on a plat- 
form affirming that of 1840, with the addition that Oregon 
and Texas ought to be annexed. 

The Whigs fought the battle on the lines of protection. 
It was a close battle, and would have been w^on for Clay, 
but for the fact that he unwisely undertook to conciliate 
southern Democrats by a letter favoring postponed action 
on the question of Texas annexation. Polk was elected, 
and with him a Democratic Congrress. 

The leading party measures of Polk's administration 
were the Mexican war, which the Whigs could not, in a 
spirit of patriotism, bitterly oppose; the settlement of the 
Oregon boundary, in which the Whigs came to the rescue 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 69 

of a Democratic minoiity , tlie disappointing tariff act of 
1846, passed in defiance of Democratic campaign prom- 
ises not to disturb the tiiriff of 1842; and the historic 
"■ Wihnot Proviso,'' whose introduction marked the begin- 
ning of a wide split in the Democratic party. 

i 

Free Soil Democrats. 

In 1848, the Democrats nominated for president, Lewis 
Cass, of Michigan, on a platform affirming that of 1844, 
and adding congratulations over the results of the Mexican 
war ; denouncing a tariff, except for revenue ; hailing the 
tariff of 1846 as a substitute for that of 1842. 

Tlie Whigs nominated General Zachary Taylor, of 
Louisiana, without a platform, but with a subsequent 
series of ratification resolutions endorsing the then well- 
known Whig principles of protection, etc. 

And now appeared the new })olitical force foreshadowed 
by the introduction in Congress of the Wilmot Proviso. 
The Democratic position on the slavery question had for 
some time been too ultra and threatening to suit tlie views 
of a strong minority of the party. This minority could not 
brook the doctrine that tlie Government had no power to 
regulate slavery in the Territories. This doctrine was 
put to a test on the floor of the Convention that nominated 
Cass for president, and the rabid pro-slavery sentiment 
l)revailed. Thereupon, the Democrats who favored Gov- 
ernment interference with slavery in the Territories, or in 
other words, those who opposed tlie extension of slaverj^ 
to the Territories, resolved to meet in Convention and 
nominate a ticket of their own. They so met at Buf- 
falo, in August, 1848, and nominated Martin Van Buren, 
of New York, for president, and Charles Francis Adams, 
of Massachusetts, for vice president. They called them- 



70 rAllTIES, PAST AND TRESENT. ' 

selves "Free Soil Democrats," and tliey embraced two 
factions, one locally known as " Barnburners," opposed 
to the extension of slavery in the Territories, the. 
other simply opposed to further agitation of slavery, 
and locally known as "Hunkers." They adopted a 
lengthy platform, seeking free soil for a free people ; 
announcing that Congress had no more autliority to 
make a slave than to make a king; affirming the ordi- 
nance of 1787 and the Jeffersonian doctrine that after 
1800 no slavery should exist in the Territories; favoring 
internal imi)rovements , proclainn'ng the watchword, ''Free 
Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, Free INIen." 

In the campaign, the old Liberty party united witli the 
Free Soil Democrats, wdiile many of the rabid southern 
Democrats preferred to trust Taylor, a southern man, to 
Cass, a northern man, on the slavery question. New 
Yoi'k was the pivotal state, and as the Liberty party, by 
dividing the Whigs in 1844, had given it to the Democrats, 
so now the Free Soil Democrats by dividing the regular 
Democrats, gave it to the Whigs, and Taylor was elected. 

The question of introducing slavery into the vast Terri- 
tories acquired by the Mexican conquest, and of protecting 
it there, and, of course, everj'where, by Government inter- 
ference, was at its height during Taylor's administration. 
Calhoun, the recognized pro-slavery leader, pushed the 
question by proposing to extend the INIissouri Compromise 
line of 1820 clear through to the Pacific. Taylor's position 
was that California, then ready for statehood, should be 
admitted without slaver}^ as her constitution provided, 
and that the other Territories should be erected witliout 
reference to slavery, leaving them to settle that question 
for themseh'es when they came to be admitted as states. 
At tliis junct-nve, Clay offered his compromise measure of 



PAIITIICS, PAST AND PRESENT. 71 

1850, it being virtually the plan proposed by president 
Taylor, except that it embraced a more vigorous fugitive 
slave law. The Whigs and Free Suilers regarded this 
compromise as weak, and as an unnecessary surrender 
of free soil principles. The pro -slavery Democrats were 
but little better pleased with it, for opposite reasons. 
California came in as a free state September 9, 1850, and 
on September 15, 1850, slavery was abolished in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia. Taylor died, July 9, 1850. 

After Taylor's death the political situation became com- 
plex, and boded disaster to the Whigs, who in their na- 
tional convention had failed to commit themselves to the 
doctrine of the Wilmot Proviso, thereby estranging the 
Liberty party, which it might have readily attracted, and 
what was worse, driving out many of their leaders into the 
ranks of the Free Soil Democrats, who were now more bitter 
opponents of slavery extension than the Whigs themselves. 

A large part of the Whig strength lay in the South. 
Therefore it was hardly to be expected that the party could 
escape the slavery maelstrom. Calhoun's failure to 
force the slave line of 3G- 30' through to the Pacific, thus 
confirming a free and slave section of the Union, led to a 
hardening of the pro-slavery lines, to the broad denial of 
the Government's right to interfere with slavery at all, to 
threats of disunion and to talk of the necessity of setting 
up a new set of institutions whose object should be the 
protection of slavery. These discussions drew over the 
pro-slavery Whigs to the Democrats, but they carried along 
with them into the Democratic ranks the doctrine that had 
been broached, but voted down in the Democratic Na- 
tional Convention of l'^48, to wit, that the people of each 
Territory should be left free to treat the slavery question 
as they pleased. Coming from such a source and in such 



72 PARTIES, PAST AMD PRESEI^T. 

a way, the Democrats could not escape the force of this 
doctrine before the country. It was the doctrine that 
afterwards became known as " Popular " or " Squatter 
Sovereignty," which figured so prominently in the Kansas 
affair, and which served to draw such men as Douglas, 
Geary and Reeder outside of the Democratic lines. The 
California miners had applied it in their own state. 
While the doctrine, or its opposite, had forced the Whig 
party asunder, it was now about to do the same thing for 
the Democratic party. 

Decline op the Whig Party. 

In 1852, the Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce, of 
New Hampshire, for the Presidency. Tlieir platform af- 
firmed that of 1848, and added an endorsement of the com- 
promise measures of 1850, emphatic opposition to the in- 
terference of Congress with State affairs, adhesion to the 
Kentucky and Virginia resolutions of 1798, no monopoly for 
the few at the expense of the many, and the Union as it is 
and should be. 

The Whigs nominated General Winfield Scott, of Vir- 
ginia, for President, on a platform favoring tariff, internal 
improvement, a Government sufficiently strong to make it 
operative, the compromise measures of 1850. This last 
plank was also in the Democratic platform, but the Whigs 
fell into the trap set by the extreme pro-slavery leaders, and 
foolishly added to the plank the words " including the fugi- 
tive slave law." The plank was a bold stroke on the part 
of the pro-slavery people to commit both parties to the ex- 
tension of slavery, but the attempt reacted with thrice the 
effect on the Whig party that it did on the Democrats. 

The Free Soil Democrats nominated John P. Hale, of 
New Hampshire, for President, on a platform denouncing 




Hon. Nelson W. Aldrich. 

Born at Foster, R. I., November G, 1841. Academically educated; 
engaged in mercantile piusnits; President of Providence Common 
Council, 1871-73; member of State Assembly, 1875-76; Speaker of 
House of Representatives in 1876 ; elected to Congress for 46th and 
47th Congresses; elected, as Republican, to United States Senate, 1880; 
re-elected, 1886 and 1893; rose to prominence as advocate of Protec- 
tion ; authority in party and Senate on matters pertaining to Tariff Legis- 
lation ; conspicuous in preparation and adoption of Tariff act of 1890 ; 
Chairman of Committee on Rules and member of Commiitees on 
Finance and Transportation. 




Hon. Fred. T. Dubois. 

Born in Crawford co., 111., May 29, 1851 ; graduated at Yale, 1872; 
Secretary of Board of Railway and Warehouse Commissioners of Illi- 
nois, 1875-76 ; moved to Idaho and entered business, 1880 ; United 
States Marshal of Idaho, 1882-86 ; elected Delegate to 50th and 51st 
Congresses; elected, as Republican, lo United States Senate, December 
18, 1890; one of the youngest members of Senate; Chairman of 
Committee on Public Lands, and member of Committees on Civil 
Service, Enrolled Bills, Naval Affairs and National Banks. 



l^AUriKS, I'AST ANO PRESENT. t5 

tlie fugitive slave law, the coinproinise measures of 1850, 
and slavery extension. 

The result of the election was most disastrous to the 
Whigs. They carried but four States. But this was by 
no means their worst blow. They stood appalled at the 
discovery that their endorsement of the compromise meas- 
ures of 1850 and of the fugitive slave law had proved to 
be a logical commitment of the party to further slavery 
agitation, if not to actual slavery extension. They could 
not advance except by going directly into the Democratic 
ranks. They could Jiot retreat except with shame and de- 
moralization. They could not stand still, for the Free Soil 
Democrats had swept the ground from under their feet. 
They never recovered from their shock, lost their organi- 
zation, never ran another President. As was piquantly 
said, the Whig party died of too much compromise, of 
a " vain attempt to swallow the fugitive slave law." 

President Pierce moulded his administration wholly in 
the interest of the pro -slavery Democrats. This party 
was now in position to force its construction of the slavery 
issue, for it had large majorities in both House and Senate. 
The construction forced wasthat the compromise measures 
of 1850 repealed those of 1820, and therefore the slavery 
question was again open as to all the territory of the United 
States. The gage of battle was thrown down in the cele- 
brated Kansas-Nebraska contest which served to solidify the 
pro-slavery Democrats and Whigs, to divide the Northern 
Democrats into two equal factions and to divide the 
Northern Whigs into two parties, one of which coalesced 
with the Free Soil Democrats, the other to soon lose its 
name and identity entirely, for a time under the title of 
anti-Nebraska men, and afterwards in that of the modern 
Republican party. 



to PARTIES, tAST AND PRESENT. 

Native American Party. 

The Native American idea is almost as old as the 
fcountry. It cropped out in 1790 in connection with the 
passage of a naturalization law, and again in 1795, 1798, 
and again in 1802. The legislation of the latter date was 
designed to secure to the old Republican party the prepon- 
derance of foreign votes in the cities. To correct this, an 
organized movement was begun in New York as early as 
1835, and in 1844 the Native Americans carried the city. 
The movement spread to other cities, and was signalized by 
great excitement and riots. 

In 1852, it reappeared in politics as a secret organiza- 
tion, known officially as the American party, but popularly 
as the Know Nothing party, from the reticence of its mem- 
bers. Its cardinal principle was " Americans must rule 
America." Its rise was rapid, and its existence being at a 
time when the Whig party was disintegrating, and when 
much dissatisfaction existed in all political organizations, it 
was greatly encouraged to exist by its ability to hold the bal- 
ance of power in many cities and even States. In 1855 it 
carried no less than nine State elections. 

In the national campaign of 1856, it entered the race 
for the Presidency, by nominating Millard Fillmore, of 
New York, on a platform of distinct Americanism and 
naturalization, only after a residence of twent3'-one 
years, with denunciation of existing parties as sectional. 
It succeeded in carrying the state of Maryland. In the 
34th Congress it had a strong contingent of members, forty- 
three in all in the House and five in the Senate. In the 36th 
Congress it had only five members in the House. 

In the vicissitude of parties between 1856 and 1860, its 
titles became merged into that of " Constitutional Union," 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. tl 

and in the latter ^ear it placed Joliii Bell, of Tennessee, 
in nomination for the President, who succeeded in secur- 
ing twelve electoral votes. It did not again appear in a 
presidential race. 

The Republican Party. 

It is not worth while here to go through the history of 
the Kansas-Nebraska act of 1854, with its subsequent 
bloody contentions for political supremacy on the soil of 
these Territories. Suffice it to say that all efforts to fasten 
slavery on these Territories by Government intervention 
were met by a determined opposition sentiment, which was 
temporarily crystalized under the title of anti-Nebraska 
sentiment. Its exponents became known as anti-Nebraska 
men. They embraced men of all parties who opposed the 
pro-slavery methods of making slave States out of the 
Ten-itories. These anti-Nebraska men controlled the 
House in the 34th Congress, and participated in one of 
the stormiest sessions of its history. 

In was seen by political leaders, of anti-Nebraska senti- 
ment, that of the elements which composed such sentiment 
could be organized, a new national party would logically re- 
sult. The title " Republican " was said to have been sug- 
gested by Governor Seward, of New York, in the latter 
part of 1855 or early part of 185G, as a substitute for anti- 
Nebraska men, who were as a rule opposed to slavery and 
slavery extension. The former title would nationalize the lat- 
ter, and raise a standard around which could rally the old 
Liberty party, the Free Soil Democrats, the anti-slavery 
Whigs, and all who doubted the propriety of following 
further the Democratic party in its now rapid strides to- 
ward absolute State-rights and slavery extension. 

The name " Republican " served the purpose intended, 



78 PARTIES, PAST AND 1'UESENT. 

though it was for a time stigmatized as " Black Republi- 
caii " by its enemies, on account of its sympathy witli the 
colored race. 

By June 17, 1856, the title was sufficiently indicative 
of a national principle, and had served to cohere so 
large a number of leaders, tliat it ventured on a National 
Convention at Philadelphia, at which John C. Fremont, of 
California, was nominated for President. The platform 
declared that the Constitution, the lights of States and the 
union of States shall be preserved; that life, liberty and 
pro[)erty shall be preserved by due process of law; tiiat 
Congress had no right to legislate slavery into a Territory ; 
that the administration had no right to defy the will of the 
people of the Territories; that the Government should ex- 
tend aid to a Pacific railroad and to internalimprovements. 

In this campaign of 185G, the Know Nothing party was 
first in the field, as we have just seen. It was followed by 
the Democratic party at Cincinnati, which nominated 
James Buchanan, of Pennsylvania, on a platform affirming 
preceding ones, and adding an endorsement of the Kansas- 
Nebraska bill, and of the Squatter Sovereignty method of 
leaving slavery in the Territories to be settled by the peo- 
ple therein. 

What was left of the old Whig party met at Baltimore, 
where it joined with tlic Know Nothings in denouncing 
the Democratic and Republican parties as sectional, and in 
supporting iMillard Fillmore for President. This was the 
last appearance of Whig on the party lists. i 

The result of the campaign of 185G, was the election of 
Buchanan, the Democratic nominee, with a Democratic 
Congress, though the new Republican party had ninety-two 
members. The popuhir vote siiowed the possibilities of the 



PARTIES, I'AST AND 1>KKSENT. 79 

new party, and the popular vote uf the entire country was 
largely against the Democrats. 

The i)ro-slavery Democrats, though they liad Ikiehan- 
an's administration with them, soon repented of their 
platform endorsement of Scpiatter Sovereignty, for they 
saw tliat they could not colonize the Territories as rapidly 
and effectually as the North could. They therefore 
drifted more and more toward other means of ex- 
tendingslavery, even if the last desperate means of secession 
had to be resorted to. Their drift bore the administration 
with it, and the way was illuminated by the Dred Scott 
Decision which in effect wiped out the compromises of 1820 
and 1850, crushed the principle of Squatter or Popular 
Sovereignty, opened the Territories, and even States, to 
slavery, despite their local laws, and nationalized the in- 
stitution. 

This decision extinguished the last hope of Douglas 
and his now important Democratic following for a settle- 
ment of the vexatious and dangerous slavery question on 
the basis of Popular Sovereignty, and they began to drift 
away from the regular organization. When the question 
of admitting Kansas as a State uneler the famous Lecomp- 
ton Constitution was before the 35th Congress, 1857-58, the 
Douglas wing of the Democratic party, under the name of 
Anti Lecompton Democrats, voted with the Republicans 
against the measure. 

In the Congressional elections of 1858 the tide of 
national sentiment ran strongly in favor of the new Re- 
publican party, and the number of their members in the 
House rose to one hundred and nine, or more than any 
Hher party, though not a majority of all. The slavery 
/uestion was still on in nil its bitterness, and in 1859 it 



80 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

wns intensified by the John Brown aff;iir at Harper's 
Ferry. 

The campaign of 1860 opened with the Democratic 
Convention at Charleston, S. C, April 23, 1860. It 
proved to be a battle ground for supremacy between 
the southern, or extreme pro-slavery, Democrats and 
the Douglas Democrats. The latter won, so far as 
the platform went. Many pro-slavery Democrats with- 
drew, but enougli remained to prevent Douglas' nomina- 
tion. I'lie Convention at length adjourned to meet in 
Baltimore, June 18th. Here Douglas was nominated for 
president. But a portion of the Baltimore Convention 
now seceded and met the seceders from th^ Charleston 
Convention, first at Charleston, then at Ricinuond and 
finally at Baltimore, where John C. Breckinridge of Ken- 
tucky, was nominated for president, on a pro-slavery plat- 
form. 

The Republicans met in National Convention at Chicago, 
May 16, 1860, and nominated Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois, 
for president, on a platform announcing the necessity for 
a Republican party; denouncing all schemes of disunion, 
and the Kansas policy of the Buchanan administration; 
declaring in favor of protection, a Homestead law, internal 
improvements, and aid for a Pacific railroad. The Amer- 
ican party made its last appearance in the national arena, 
under the name of the Constitutional Union party, at 
Baltimore, and nominated John Bell, of Tennessee, for 
president. 

Tlie Republican party elected Mr. Lincoln president. 
This election resulted also in a Republican House and 
Senate. The pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party 
regarded tliis result as a cause for secession of the slave 
States from the Union. They setup tlie southern Con- 



PARTIES, PAST AND mi^INT 81 

federacy and inaugurated war by firing on Foit. Sumter.. 
Ajn'il 13, 1861. This was the great American Rebellion, 
or Civil War in the United States, which was to last for 
over four years, and to end with the extinction of ths 
Confederacy and a restored Union of States. 

Pending this war, tlie Republican party held possession 
of all branches of the Government. In 1863 the vexatious 
question of slavery was forever settled by its entire aboli- 
tion in the United States. The measures of Lincoln's first 
administration were chiefly those of war and finance. In 
1861, a tariff bill was passed in accordance with the Re- 
publican doctrine of protection. Though the Democrats 
of the northern States cooperated largely with the Repub- 
licans in measures looking to the direct suppression of the 
Rebellion, they still held to their party organization suffi- 
cientl}^ to put all strictly party questions to severe test, and 
as the time for the national election of 1864 drew near 
they were encouraged to meet in National Convention at 
Chicago, and nominated General George B. McLellan for 
president. This Convention was dominated by the reac 
tionary or peace wing of the party, called "Copperheads," 
I by their opponents. The platform announced adhesion 
to the Union under the Constitution ; demanded a cessa- 
tion of hostilities and a peace Convention, after four years 
of failure to restore the Union by war; opposed military 
interference with elections ; set forth the objects of the 
party as a restoration of the Union with the rights of the 
States unimpaired : denounced war measures in general ; 
expressed sympathy for soldiers and sailors. 

The Republican National Convention of 1860, at Balti- 
more, re-nominated Abraham Lincoln for president on a 
platform pledging the party to suppression of the Rebell- 
ion ; to peace on the unconditional surrenderof all rebels; 



82 TAirriES, past and present. 

to ail amendment to the Constitution proliibiting slavery; 
extending thanks to soldiers and sailors; approving Lin- 
coln's administration ; pledging the national faith to the 
redemption of the public debt ; approving the Monroe 
Doctrine. 

These two conventions were supplemented by one at 
Cleveland, Ohio, held under the auspices of " Radical 
Men," a Republican faction opposed to Lincoln on account 
of his tardiness respecting matters appertaining to slavery. 
It nominated John C. Fi'emont for president, but the 
movement collapsed, and afterwards became a part of the 
regular Republicans party. 

The issue of war failure and of peace by com[)romise 
presented by the Democrats in 1864, was met squarely by 
the Republicans, and the result was an overwhelming vic- 
tory for the latter, both as to the Presidency and the Con- 
gress. The war practically ended with Lee's surrender, 
April 9, 1865. On April 14, President Lincoln w^as assas- 
sinated. He was succeeded by Vice President Johnson, 
M'ho was to play toward the Republicans the jtart of Tyler 
toward the Whigs, through the trying period of rec(jn- 
struction of the seceded States. Though baflled at every 
turn by the President, the Republican majorities in both 
Houses of Congress were such as to enable the party to 
cany through most of its terms of reconstruction, and to 
amend the Constitution so as to secure civil rights and the 
right of suffrage to American citizens. 

This stormy period of reconstruction served to unite in 
a measure the Northern and Southern wings of the Dem- 
ocratic party. The disturbing question of slavery elimin- 
ated, they could once more make common cause against 
the Republicans, which they did in the cnmpaign of 1868, 
with Horatio Seymour, of Now York as their candidate 



PAKTIICS, PAST AND PKESENT. 83 

for president, and with a platform recognizing tlie ques- 
tion of secession and slavery as settled ; demanding the 
immediate restoration of the Southern States and the set- 
tlement of the question of suffrage by the States them- 
selves ; amnesty for all offenses, payment of the public 
debt in lawful money, where coin is not called for ; equal 
taxation and one currency ; economy, and abolition of the 
Freedmen's Bureau ; tariff for revenue with incidental pro 
tection ; general arraignment of the Republican party,- 
gratitude to Johnson for resisting the aggressions o/ 
Congress. 

The Republicans met in national convention at Chicago, 
May 20, 18G8, and nominated General U. S. Grant foi" 
President. Their platform embodied the following : (1) 
Congratulation over the success of the reconstruction pol- 
icy of Congress. (2) Equal suffrage to all loyal men. 
(8) No repudiation of national promises to pay. (4) 
Equalization and reduction of taxation. (5) Reduction 
of interest on public debt and gradual payment of same. 
(6)Improvement of National credit. (7) Johnson's treach' 
ery denounced. (8) Honor to soldiers. (9) Encourage 
ment of immigration. (10) Commendation of all loyal men 
in the South. 

The main issues of the campaign were the reconstruct 
tion measures of Congress and equal suffrage, the latter a 
new question rising out of the condition of the freedmen. 
The popular verdict was strongly in favor of the Republi 
cans, both as to President and Congress. Grant's first ad- 
ministration was full of vexations, on account of a )iew 
force in the South which, under the various names of 
" Unreconstructed," " Irreconcilables," " Kii-Klux-Klan," 
etc., rose up in opposition to Federal authority, and es[)e- 
cially to the newly formed State governments, which wore 



84 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

denounced as " Carpet-Bag Governments." This force 
ap[)lied the doctrine of " a white man's government" 
with such effect as to terrorize all organized opposition, 
and eventually gain its point. But while the administra- 
tion was thus struggling with ever-recurring vexations, 
the Supreme Court came to its rescue with a decision that 
Congress had the power to establish the relations of re- 
bellious States to the Union. An equally important de- 
cision declared the Legal Tender Act of 1862 to 
be constitutional, thus bringing the " Greenback " into 
great popularity and laying the foundation of a new but 
ephemeral party. By July 1.5, 1870, the last, seceded State 
was back in the Union, and the clouds of the reconstruc- 
tion period had well-nigh vanished. 

Liberal Republicans. 

Both the Republican and Democratic parties were now 
to be shaken up by the question of " amnesty to rebels." 
Many leaders in both parties thought the time had come 
when general amnesty should be extended to all who had 
engaged in the Rebellion, on the part of the South. The Re- 
publicans who thus thought met in convention at Cincin- 
nati, May 1, 1872, and nominated Horace Greeley, of New 
York, for president, on a platform pledging the party to 
Union, emancipation, enfranchisement ; opposition to the 
reopening of any question settled by the thirteenth, four- 
teenth and fifteenth amendments to the Constitution ; im- 
mediate removal of all political disabilities; local self-gov- 
ernment with impartial suffrage; civil service reform; 
modest Government revenue. But the remarkable part 
of the platform, considering that Mr. Greeley, a lifelong 
protectionist, was the nominee of the party, was the tariff 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 85 

plank, which simply relegated the question of the tariff 
to the congressional districts for discussion. 

The Liberal Republican idea gained rapid headway in 
several States. It split the Republican party in twain in 
Missouri, and the Democratic party in Ohio. Accretions 
were so numerous from botli parties, and the general am- 
nesty doctrine was so strong with Democrats, that the Lib- 
eral Republican Convention felt it could, by early and dis- 
creet action, capture the entire Democratic organization. 

In this it counted correctly, for when the Democratic 
Convention met in Baltimore, July 9, 1872, it accepted the 
platform and nominees of the Liberal Republicans, with the 
hope of thus widening the schism in the Republican ranks 
and crushing the party forever. 

But not all Democrats fell thus to the Liberal Republi- 
can movement. A straight out Democratic Convention 
was held at Louisville, September 3, 1872, which nomi- 
nated Charles O'Conner, of New York, for president, on a 
platform containing a plea for State-rights, and repudiation 
of the Baltimore convention as a betrayal of the Demo- 
cratic party into a false creed and false leadership. 

The Republicans met in National Convention in Phila- 
delphia, June 5, 1872, and renominated U. S. Grant for 
president on a platform whose leading planks favored en- 
forcement of the new constitutional amendments, civil 
service reform, and maintenance of the public credit. 

The Prohibition Party. 

Up until 1865, what may be designated political tem- 
perance depended on the use of parties as they were found 
to exist in the States. This localized the temperance 
issue, and subjected it to the whim of opponents. The 
time had come for the natiojialization of the cause. In 



bb PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

1868, the Grand J^udge of Good Templars moved for " the 
organization of a national political party whose principles 
should be prohibition of the manufacture, importation 
and sale of intoxicating liquors to be used as a beverage." 
This sentiment was closely reflected by the Sixth National 
Temperance Convention at Cleveland, July 29, 1868. 
The next year, during a session of the Grand Lodge of 
Good Templars at Oswego, N. Y., a call was made for a 
Convention to organize a "National Prohibition party." 

This Convention met in Chicago, September 1. 1869, 
with five hundred delegates from twenty states, and 
launched the new party. The party held its first National 
Convention at Columbus, Ohio, February 22, 1872, and 
nominated James Black, of Penns3dvaniafor president, on a 
platform declaring that as all existing political parties had 
proved unwilling to adopt an adequate policy respecting traf^ 
fie in intoxicating drinks, therefore the Prohibition party 
pledged itself to maintain the principles of its Declaiation 
and Constitution ; that effective state as well as National 
prohibition is the only means of suppressing traffic in in- 
toxicants; that existing party competition for the liquor 
vote is a })eril to the nation ; dissuasion from the use of 
intoxicants; competency, honesty and sobriety as qualifi- 
cations for office ; no removals from office for political 
opinions; economy; direct vote for president; sound 
national currency; labor reform ; suffrage without regard 
to sex ; fostering of common schools. 

All parties were now ready for the campaign of 1872— 
a campaign peculiar in every respect. Its burdens wer^ 
chiefly borne by the Liberal Republicans. The result was 
their overwhelming defeat. They had not captured the 
Democratic party, for what they gained from it was far 
more than offset by desertions to the Republicans. Nor 



PARTIKS, PAST AND PRESENT. 87 

liad they widened perceptibly the schism in the Republi- 
can ranks. As was wittily said at the time, " fusion had 
resulted in confusion." 

The Greenback Party. " 

In 1873 the Country passed through a panic. Cautious 
financial legislation became necessary. President Grant 
vetoed a measure increasing the national currency to the 
extent of $400,000,000, because it tended to inflation at a 
time when the country was looking toward the resumption 
of specie payments. A strenuous effort was made by a 
strong minority of both parties to pass the bill over the 
veto. The effort failed, but here we have the germs of the 
"Greenback party." 

The rise of this party was encouraged by the stringency 
of the times, and by the propensity to hold the dominant 
party responsible for industrial and financial ills. It at 
first took form and name as " The Independent party," 
that being best suited for a grouping of all the elements 
of discontent. But it could not escape the more suggest- 
ive name of "Greenback party," since its object was to 
relieve financial stringency and business depression by 
using the credit of the Government in the shape of green- 
backs, and insisting on a sufficient issue of them to answer 
the purposes intended. The greenback was then popular 
and was ere long to be redeemed in gold. 

But while the inception of the party was in 1873, it re- 
ceived its real impetus in the passage of the specie Resump- 
tion act of 1875, by the Republicans. The Democrat party, 
contrary to its traditions, had arrayed itself against the pas- 
sage of this act, and was therefore in a position to ally itself 
with the Greenbackers. This alliance was effected in 
many States, and it proved to be a very strong alliance in 



88 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

industrial districts where the tliought of unlimited money 
was a pleasing delusion. 

Campaign of 1876. 

This party was the first to enter the campaign of 1876, 
It met in National Convention at Indianapolis, May 17, 
1876 and nominated Peter Cooper, of New York, for presi- 
dent, on a platform arraigning both Republican and Demo- 
cratic parties for refusing to foster financial reform and 
industrial emancipation ; demanding repeal of the Specie 
Resumption act of 1875; insisting upon the United States 
note (greenback) as a circulating medium and legal tender, 
and upon the Jeffersonian theory that " bank paper must 
be suppressed, and the circulation restored to the nation 
to whom it belongs ; declaring that the Government shall 
legislate for the full development of all legitimate business ; 
opposing further issue of gold bonds ; no further sale of 
bonds with which to purchase silver as a substitute for 
fractional currency. 

This was a most remarkable platform in view of the 
strenuous opposition of the Democrats to the passage of 
the original Greenback act, of the traditions of the party 
in favor of hard money, and of the historic opposition of 
Democracy to Government legislation in favor of our in- 
dustries. 

Another party which had already entered the campaign 
of 1876, was the American National party, which met in 
mass meeting at Pittsburg, June 9, 1875, and nominated 
James B. Walker, of Illinois, for president. It favored a 
Sabbath, and prohibition, the thirteenth, fourteenth and 
fifteenth amendments, arbitration, Bible in schools, return 
to specie payments, direct vote of the people for president, 
and opposed Secret Societies. The Prohibition party, 



PARTIES, PAST ANb PRESiENT. 89 

Uiuler the name of " Prohibition Reform party," met in 
National Convention at Cleveland, May 17, 187(5, and 
nominated Green C. Smith, of Kentucky, for president, 
on the usual platfoum of principles. 

The Republican party met in Convention at Cincinnati 
and nominated Rutherford B. Hayes, of Ohio, for presi- 
dent. This Convention broke the usual party practice of 
voting the States as units. It declared in its platform 
that the United States was a nation not a league ; that 
Republican work was not done till the Declaration was 
acknowledged in every State ; for protection of all citi- 
zens ; for redemption of United States notes in coin ; for 
improved civil service ; rigid responsibility in office ; 
against sectarian control of schools ; for sufficient revenue 
with protection; against land-grants to corporations ; in 
favor of pensions to soldiers. 

The regular Democratic party met in convention at St. 
Louis. June 28, 1876, and nominated Samuel J. Tilden, of 
New York, for president, on a platform of general con- 
demnation of the Republican party and policy ; the lan- 
guage as to the existing tariff being that it is, " a master- 
piece of injustice, inequality and false pretence." 

This campaign led to the unfortunate result of a dis- 
puted return of electors from three of the Southern States 
and from Oregon — a result upon which the victory hung. 
The matter was carried before a special tribunal, called 
the "Electoral Commission." Its decision was that R. B. 
Hayes, the Republican nominee for president, had received 
one hundred and eighty-five electoral votes, and Samuel 
J. Tilden, the Democratic nominee, one hundred and 
eighty-four votes. A remarkable feature of this contest 
was that Republicans and Democrats had reversed their 



90 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

ground as to open and strict construction of the Constitu- 
tion. 

The forty-fifth Congress, the first to meet under Hayes' 
administration was Democratic in tbe House and Repub- 
lican in Senate. Strictly partisan legislation was there- 
fore blocked. This Congress witnessed the introduction 
of the silver question into politics, in the shape of the 
Bland bill remonetizing silver and authorizing the coinage 
of $2,000,000 Bland dollars, a month. In the forty sixth 
Congress the Republicans made a determined effort to 
repeal the Bland silver act but failed. 

Campaign of 1880. 

In the campaign of 1880, the Republicans were first in 
the field. They met at Chicago, June 5, 1880, and nomi- 
nated James A. Garfield, of Ohio, for president. The 
platform recited the achievements of the Republican party 
from the suppression of the Rebellion to the resumption 
of gold payments, and extended the usual pledges in favor 
of protection, pensions, internal improvements, etc. 

The Convention of the National Greenback party was 
held at Chicago, June 9, 1880. It nominated James B. 
Weaver, of Iowa, for president upon a platform adhering 
to a large legal tender currency; opposition to refunding 
of the national debt ; favoring abolition of national banks, 
an unlimited coinage of gold and silver and a graduated 
income tax. 

The Prohibition Reform party met at Cleveland, June 
17, 1880, and nominated Neal Dow, of Maine, for presi- 
dent on the usual platform. 

The Democratic party met at Cincinnati, June 22, 1880, 
and nominated General Winfield S. Hancock, of New York, 




Hon. Levi P. Morton. 

Born at Shoreham, Vt., May 16, 1824; educated in common schools', 
entered mercantile business at Concord, N. H. ; at twenty-five, mem- 
ber of firm of Morton & Co., Boston ; member of firm of Morton & 
Grinnell, New York, 1854; a banker in 1863 ; Morton, Bliss & Co., in 
1868 ; elected to Congress in Twelth New York District in 1878 ; an 
authority in matters of finance; declined Vice-Presidential nomination, 
1880 ; furnished fourth of cargo to Irish sufferers ; declined Secretary- 
ship of Navy under Garfield ; Minister to France u'nder Garfield ; urged 
for U. S. Senator, 1885; elected Vice-President, 1888 ; elected Governor 
of New York by a large majority in 1894 ; noted for financial knowl- 
edge, charitable disposition, and nobility of character ; prominent candi- 
date for Presidential nominee on Republican ticket in 1896. 




Hon. Wit,lia:\i Alfred Peffer. 

Born in Cumberland co., Pa., September 10, 1831 ; educated in com- 
mon schools ; engaged in teaching and farming ; moved to Indiana, 
1853, and engaged in farming; moved to Missouri, 1859, and to Illi- 
nois, 1861 ; enlisted in Union army and served in Department of Nash- 
ville ; studied law and began practice in Clarksville, Tenn., 1865 ; 
moved to Kansas, 1870, to practice law and edit; elected to State 
Senate, 1874; Republican elector in 1880; tdiiov oi Kansas Farmer, 
1881 ; elected to United States Senate, as a People's Party candidate, 
for term beginning March 4, 1891 ; an exponent of the ideas advocated 
by the Farmers' Alliance and other new parties ; Chairman of Com- 
luiltee on Civil Service, and member of Committees on Immigration, 
Pensions, Irrigation and Woman's Sutiragc. 



t>ARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 93 

for president, on a platform pledging the party to Demo- 
cratic traditions, and tariff for revenue only. 

The result of the campaign was the election of Garfield, 
with a Republican majority in the House and a tie in the 
Senate. On July 2, 1881, President Garfield was mortally 
shot, and was succeeded by Vice President Arthur. The 
forty-seventh Congress enacted the miportant tariff bill of 
1883, lowering duties. It also enacted the Civil Service 
Reform Bill, introduced into the Senate by Geo. H. Pen- 
dleton, Democrat of Ohio. The elections of 1882 had proven 
disastrous to the Republicans, and in the forty-eighth Con- 
gress there was a large preponderance of Democrats in the 
House, but no legislation of political moment was effected. 
Both parties preferred to stand as nearly still as possible, 
preparatory to the campaign of 1884. 

Campaign op 1884. 

The eighth National Convention on the history of the 
Republican party met at Chicago, June 3, 1884. James 
G. Blaine, of Maine, was nominated for president, on a 
platform which commended the party for its achievments ; 
lamented the death of Garfield; endorsed Arthur's admin- 
istration : favored a tariff for the protection of American 
industry; denounced Democratic measures in Congress; 
urged international standard of gold and silver ; suggested 
the regulation of interstate commerce ; favored interna- 
tional arbitration; denounced the importation of contract 
labor ; favored civil service reform, liberal pensions, ex- 
tension of the navy ; insisted on a free ballot and full 
count in southern States ; passed a pledge to secure to all 
persons full political rights. 

The Democrats met at Chicago, July 8, 1884, and 
nominated Grover Cleveland, of New York, for president, 
6 



94 pahties, t'Asr and RftESENT. 

much against the wishes of Tammany Hall. The platform 
announced " the preservation of personal rights, equality 
of citizens before the law, reserved rights of States, suprem- 
acy of Federal Government within Constitutional pro- 
visions ;" that a change of parties was demanded ; that 
the will of the people was defeated by fraud in 1876; that 
the Republican party was extravagant, and had not kept 
its pledges to workingmen soldiers, and in favor of Amer- 
ican manufactures ; that the Democratic party pledged 
itself to reform the existing tariff and internal revenue 
laws, and denounced the existing tariff; that the Govern- 
ment should secure equal rights to all citizens; that there 
should be no sumptuary laws; that the party favored 
Civil Service Reform, separation of church and state, leg- 
islation tending to advance labor, an American policy for 
restoration of American commerce. 

The Prohibition National Convention met in Pittsburg, 
Jul}^ 21, 1884, and nominated Ex-Governor John P. 
St. John, of Kansas, for president, on the usual Prohibi- 
tion platform. 

As a prelude to the National Convention of the Green- 
back party, a Convention of Anti-monopolists met at 
Chicago, May 14, 1884, which nominated Benjamin F. 
Butler, of Massachusetts, for president. When the Green- 
back party met in Chicago, May 28, 1884, it also nomi. 
nated Butler for president, on a platform demanding the 
issue of legal tender notes in quantities sufficient to supply 
actual demands of trade and commerce in accordance 
with increase of population. 

The campaign opened with great personal bitterness, 
and was conducted with an acerb spirit to the end. Mr. 
Blaine threw into it all his intense personalism, but the 
result was his defeat by the narrowest of all margins. At 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 95 

the same time the House was carried by the Democrats. 
At this time there were two wings to the Democratic party, 
one favoring a tariff for revenue with incidental protec- 
tion, the other standing squarely against the protective 
idea. 

The new president elect, Mr Cleveland, at first favored 
the former wing led by Mr. Randall, but he turned, and in 
his message of 1887, announced his tariff reform, or free 
trade, sentiments, which became the party doctrine for 
future campaigns. With their majority in the forty-ninth 
Congress, the Democrats achieved but little party legisla- 
tion. In the fiftieth Congress the House still had a Demo- 
cratic majority, while there was a Republican majority of 
one in the Senate. The former passed the Mills Tariff Bill 
by a slender majority. It was defeated in the Senate. 
Nothing seriously affected the status of the two leading 
parties during Mr. Cleveland's first term of office. 

Campaign of 1888. 

The Democrats entered the lists first with theirnational 
Convention at St. Louis, at which President Cleveland 
was re-nominated by acclamation, on a platform reaffirming 
that of 1884, and inveighing against the Republican policy 
of accumulating a surplus in the treasury. 

The Republicans met in National Convention at Chi- 
cago, June 19, 1888, and nominated Benjamin Harrison 
of Indiana, for president, on a platform strongly favoring 
the protective idea and accepting the issue of free trade 
as presented by the Democrats. 

The Prohibition party met at Indianapolis and nomi- 
nated Clinton B. Fisk, of New Jersey, for president, on a 
distinctive party platform. 

The United Labor party placed R. H. Cowdrey in the 



96 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

field as its candidate for president. The Greenbackers, 
now figuring faintly in political affairs, united with the 
Labor Reformers, and nominated Alson J. Streeter for 
president. The American party nominated James L. 
Curtis for president. The Equal Rights part}^ nominated 
Belva A. Lockwood for president. 

The campaign was one largely of discussion, the leading 
issue being that of Tariff vs. Free Trade. The result was 
the election of Harrison the Republican nominee, together 
with a Republican House of Representatives. The revo-| 
lution of 1884 was now reversed. The Harrison adminis- 
tration was signalized by the passage of the McKinley 
tariff bill of 1890, involving the principle of reciprocity, 
the Administrative Customs' Act and the Sherman Silver 
Bill changing the actual coinage of silver, as provided for 
in the Bland Bill, to the purchase of 54,000,000 ounces of 
silver in a year — the amount of the American product — ■ 
and the issuing of silver certificates against the bullion 
deposited. 

The Democrats were not daunted by the defeat of 
Tariff Reform in 1888, but pressed the issue before the 
country with sufficient success in the elections of 1890, to 
win a large majority in the fifty-second Congress. This 
majority proved to be too large, unsophisticated and un- 
wieldly. Such imposing questions as those appertaining to 
Samoa, the murder of Italians in New Orleans, the Chilian 
Imbroglio, overshadowed everything narrower. The 
Congress achieved nothing outside of routine and such 
few passing things as would contribute to success in the 
approaching campaign of 1892. Tlie " pop-gun" method 
of doing away with the Tariff act of 1890, proved unsatis- 
factory to even its advocates. 

But there was one question that would not down in 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 97 

this Congress. That was the free coinage of silver. It 
bobbed up at every turn to annoy the Democratic majority. 
The failure of silver producers to realize their expectations 
under the Sherman act of 1890, the growing desire on the 
part of the dissatisfied to change industrial and trade con- 
ditions in the South and West, had given the silver ques- 
tion a new and decidedly party turn. Democratic State 
Conventions had almost unanimously declared in favor of 
"free and unlimited coinage of silver." This was but an 
echo of the Greenback doctrine, now on its wane. Mr. 
Bland, recognized leader of the silver agitation, formulated 
his " Free Silver Coinage Bill " and urged it with his tre- 
mendous ability. The belief that it could fail in a Demo' 
cratic House was not to be entertained. But what was 
his surprise to find that the eastern Democrats had turned 
in Avith the Republicans, and that the vote on his bill was 
a tie. Though the Speaker, Mr. Crisp, broke the tie in 
favor of the bill, it was afterwards defeated by dilatory 
motions. 

In comparison witli the fifty-first Congress the fifty- 
second passed into history as the "do-nothing Congress." 
It was frequently driven to protest against itself for fili- 
bustering tactics. Owing its existence largely to " Th(, 
Billion Dollar " extravagance of its predecessor, it ex 
ceeded that extravagance by a total of ^44,000,000. 

Campaign of 1892. 

The Republican party held its National Convention at 
Minneapolis, June 7, 1892, and renominated President 
Harrison on a platform favoring American Protection, 
bimetalism with legislative restrictions, free ballot and 
honest count, extension of foreign commerce, enforcement 
of the Monroe Doctrine, separations of church and state; 



98 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

efficient protection to railroad employees, reduced postage 
and extension of free mail deliver}^. Civil Service, Nicara- 
gua canal, admissions of Territories as States, the World's 
Fair, pensions ; and opposing southern outrages, pauper 
immigration, trusts, and intemperance. 

The Democrats met at Chicago, June 21, 1892, and re- 
nominated Grover Clevehuid on a platform pledging the 
party to the principles of Jefferson, to opposition to the 
" Force Bill ; " denouncing protection as a fraud and un- 
constitutional ; the McKinley act as the "culminating 
atrocit}^ of class legislation;" reciprocity as a fraud; de- 
claring opposition to trusts ; to giving away of public 
lands to railroads; to the coinage act of 1890 ; to State 
banks ; to Republican foreign policy ; to pauper immigra- 
tion ; to Harrison's administration; favoring Mississippi 
improvements, Nicaragua canal, popular education, ad- 
mission of new States, protection of railway em])loyees, 
abolition of tlie "sweating system." 

The Prohibitionists met in National Convention at Cin- 
cinnati, June 30, 1892, and nominated General John Bid- 
well, for president, on an elaborate platform expressive of 
the party's views. 

The People's or Populist Party. 

A new party had been for some time in process of quiet 
growth, formed of those who thought that the Govern- 
ment had not been sufficiently mindful of the welfare of 
the industrial classes. It had formulated its doctrines at 
a meeting at Ocala, Fla., and was sufficiently advanced to 
take its place in the campaign of 1892. This it did in 
National Convention at Omaha on July 4, 1892, by the 
nommation of General James B. Weaver, of Iowa, for 
president. The party was recruited from both the lead- 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 99 

ing parties, and gave as reasons for its existence, those 
f(nind in the preamble to its platform, to wit ; — that cor- 
ruption dominates the ballot box, the legislatures, the 
Congress, and touches even the ermine of the bench. 
The people are demoralized, newspapers largely subsidized 
or muzzled, i)ublic opinion silenced, business prostrated, 
homes mortgaged, labor impoverished, lands concentrated 
in the hands of capitalists, workmen denied right of organ- 
ization, imported pauperized labor beating down wages, 
the fruits of toil stolen to build up colossal fortunes, the 
national power to create money appropriated to enrich 
bond holders, a vast public debt funded into gold-bearing 
bonds, silver demonetized, the currency abridged to fatten 
usurers, bankrupt enterprise and enslave industry. 

The preamble further charged both political parties 
with grievous wrongs and inability to right them, with 
engaging in sham political battles over tariffs for the sake 
of plunder, and with proposing to sacrifice homes, lives 
and children on the altar of Mammon. The platform 
which followed contained a belief that a union of the 
labor forces of the country was necessary to its salvation, 
tliat wealth belonged to him who created it, and that the 
time had come when the Government should own and 
operate the railroads, telegraphs and telephones. On the 
question of finance the demand was for a safe, sound and 
flexible legal tender currency, for free and unlimited 
coinage of silver at a ratio of sixteen to one, for a gradu- 
ated income tax, for limitation of State and National rev- 
enues, for postal savings banks, for an eight hour law, for 
civil service I'egulations. 

These plain charges and broad demands sufficed to touch 
deeply an immense contingent of both parties in the far 
western States, and one of the curiosities of the campaign 



100 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

of 1892 was a coalition of Democrats and Populists in 
many States with a view to securing Democratic electors. 
The growth of tliis new party in the Southern States was 
phenomenal. In more than one of these States it swept 
away old regimes and installed itself in the Governor's 
chairs and legislatures. 

The result of the national campaign of 1892 was a sur- 
prise to both the leading parties. There had been but 
little excitement, and nothing more than a quiet confi- 
dence manifested. But it was found that the labor vote 
had revolted against its employers, and that the Populist 
strength had proved enormous beyond all calculation, 
having swept several Republican states of the northwest 
from their political moorings. Ex-president Cleveland 
was elected, and with him a large majority of Democrats 
in the fifty-third Congress, the strength of parties being 
two hundred and twenty-one Democrats, one hundred and 
twenty-five Republicans, ten Populists. The Senate was 
also Democratic, the part}'- strength being forty-three 
Democrats, thirty-seven Republicans, and five Populists. 

This was really a greater political revolution than that 
of 1884 had been. The Democratic party found itself in 
possession of all branches of the Government for the first 
time in thirty-two years, and it could apply its principles 
at will. But though a triumpliant, it was to be by no 
means a happy, party. Its alliances with Populists en- 
couraged the free silver sentiment in its ranks, and out of 
fusion was to come confusion, as so often happens in party 
history. 

A feeling of discontent rested heavily on the country 
and a sense of danger haunted commercial centres. Gold 
went abroad rapidly. The Treasury reserve became de- 
pleted. Exports fell off. Expenditures exceeded receipts. 



PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 101 

The Secretary of the Treasury intimated the probability 
of redeeming silver certificates in silver. At once solid 
dread fell on the banks and capitalists. Credits shrivelled, 
banks closed, corporations and firms went to the wall, 
business demoralization became well-nigh universal, mills 
closed, labor went idle. The period was one of panic, or 
rather of that awful suspension of faith and credit which 
is usually worse than panic, because it is less treatable by 
remedies and of longer duration. It was to rest like an 
incubus on the entire second administration of Mr. Cleve- 
land. 

It was thought that the Sherman Silver Act of 1890 
had something to do with the disastrous times. Congress 
was called in special session, August 7, 189B, and the 
purchasing clause of the bill was repealed, but not with- 
out strenuous opposition by the free silver coinage men. 
Credit was somewhat fortified, but the industrial panic 
still prevailed and even assumed more disastrous forms. 
It was evident that the cause had not been rightly 
guessed. 

Amid this gloom the fifty-third Congress met in regular 
session, December 4, 1893. Its meeting was rendered 
more sombre by the fact that a counter political revolu- 
tion had set in, in 1893, less diffused but more emphatic 
than that of 1892 had been. Democratic States, like New 
York, were swept by the Republicans, by large majorities. 
It was evident that the country was in violent reaction. 
Still the Congress went actively about the work of sub- 
stituting a new Tariff act for that of 1890. The bill, 
which became known as the " Wilson Bill," was framed 
very far along the approaches to free trade, so much so 
indeed that the Democrats in the Senate forced into it 
many material amendments so as to make it secure more 



102 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

revenue. It was passed, but never received the Presidents' 
signature. It became a law not only without the Presi- 
dent's endorsement, but with his expressed disapprobation. 
The Democrats had now applied to the situation one of 
their most heroic remedies, had placed the countr}^ on a 
new economic plain. They had even incorporated in the 
Tariff the Populist doctrine of an income tax. This the 
Supreme Court decided to be unconstitutional. 

All the while the Treasury condition was growing worse. 
The Gold reserve could not be preserved, and the deficit 
was growing daily. In order to meet expenses and pre- 
serve the National credit, a resort was had to borrowing. 
$50,000,000 bonds were sold in order to replenish the 
Treasury. This did not last long, and another, and still 
a third issue, became necessary, making a total of ^2Q2,- 
000,000, in a little over a year. This use of bonds in 
■order to keep the Treasury in funds was highlj^ exas- 
perating to free silver coinage sentiment in the Demo- 
cratic party, while the country at large felt great disap- 
pointment over the fact that the Wilson tariff was falling 
so far below the expectations and promises of its projec- 
tors in providing revenue sufficient for the needs of Gov- 
ernment in time of peace. Added to this, Mr. Cleveland 
had been unfortunate in his foreign policy, and had antag- 
onized the patriotic spirit of the people. It was hardly 
surprising thei'efore, that the political reaction wliich be- 
gan in 1893 should assume fuller proportions in 1894. 
Tiie large Democratic majority in the House was over- 
turned by an equally large Republican majority in the 
fifty-fourth Congress. It was therefore to a hostile body 
tliat President Cleveland made his plea for financial relief, 
in his message to the fifty-fourth Congress. The House 
came to his rescue with a provisional toriff bill designed 



PARTIES, PAST AND PKKSKNT. 103 

to increase the Custom's revenue sufficiently to meet the 
needs of tlie Treasury. But this could not be passed in 
tlie Senate, owing to the attitude of parties there, the 
free silver coinage sentiment holding a balance of power, 
and being determined to fix a recognition of its principles 
on all the legislation it could. 

Campaign of 1896. 

The shapings of the campaign of 1896, proved to bo 
most interesting. The free silver coinage sentiment which, 
as we have seen, the Populists formulated in their plat- 
form of 1892, but which had been a prolific source of agi- 
tation long before, had well-nigh taken possession of the 
Democratic party in the Western and Southern States, 
and had come to tlie front in the Republican party of the 
mining States sufiicientl}' to threaten their allegiance. 
So conspicuous and pervading had the sentiment become 
that the name " Populist " was almost lost in that of Free 
Silverite " as a party cognomen. 

While the free silver coinage sentiment was thus atfectT 
ing both the Republican and Democratic parties in kind» 
it was not doing so in degree, for its invasion of the Demo- 
cratic ranks was where they liad been strongest, while it 
l)enetrated but little into the strong Republican States. 
The Democrats stood in awe of it, for the reason that they 
had coquetted with and encouraged it in 1892, and for the 
additional reason that the administration had directly and 
bitterly antagonized it by seeking to make all that consti- 
tuted its opposite a part of administrative policy. The 
Republicans had less fear of it, for the reason that how- 
ever rabid the sentiment might become in the States that 
were most affected by it, the more important principle of 
protection would be tliere to modify or thwart it. 



104 PARTIES, PAST AND PRESENT. 

The first party to open the campaign was the Prohibi- 
tion party whicli met at Pittsburg, May 27, and nominated 
Josliua Levering, of Maryland, for president on a single 
phmk platform setting forth the principles of the party. 
This Convention witnessed a bolt led by the free silver 
coinage men, on account of their failure to secure the in- 
sertion of a free silver plank in the platform. The bolters 
set up a new party and a separate ticket. 

The second National Convention was that of the Re- 
publican party, which met at St. Louis, June 16, 1896, and 
nominated William McKinley for president. The plat- 
form declared for an ample protective tariff and for the 
maintainance of tlie existing gold standard of money. 
The failure of the I'adical free silver coinage men to secure 
a plank in the platform pledging the party to free silver 
coinage at the ratio of sixteen to one, led to a bolt which 
portended the loss of several of the States interested in 
silver mining. 

The preliminary battle for ascendency in the Demo- 
cratic Convention called to meet in Chicago on July 6, 
1896, was the fiercest in the annals of the party. The 
free silver coinage men were actively, boldly and bitterly 
aggressive from the very inception of the campaign, and 
were constantly encouraged by the local elections in the 
states. 

As time wore on their confidence was increased, and 
that of the gold, or the sound money, wing fell. Even 
the heroic effort of President Cleveland, by open letter, tc 
sta}^ the free silver coinage tide passed without effect, and 
it was conceded, some time before the meeting of the 
Convention, that the mastery of the free silver coinage 
wing of the party would be complete. The first test vote 
showed 556 for free silver to 349 against. 



PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 

Free-trade exists only in theory. There is no actual 
free-trade in all the world. 

Those who ground their arguments on the abstract doc- 
trine of free-trade are free-traders. 

Those who admit the necessity or propriety of a tariff for 
revenue only are free-traders. All the political economists 
of the free-trade school — Adam Smith, Mill, Ricardo, Say, 
List, Laveleye, Wells, Wayland — say that a government has 
a right to levy a tax for its support, and that the tariff is the 
least onerous and easiest collected tax. 

A tariff for revenue with incidental protection begins to 
draw the line between the free-trader and the protectionist. 

A " Tariff Reformer " is either an outright free-trader, or 
a believer in a revenue tariff with incidental protection. He 
may be none the less a protectionist. 

Politics confuse these terms. American politics are espe- 
cially loose respecting them. We change both theories and 
terms with the rapidity of a new and enterprising country. 

In England " free-trade " and " free-trader " carry no re- 
proach. The meaning of the terms is understood, as well 
as the doctrine. 

In political economy there is no doubt about terms. The 
free-trader and protectionist are what they profess to be. 

The early economic writers were mostly free-traders. 
Protection, which all nations practiced, did not seem to ad- 
mit of theories or encourage a literature. 

It is well to understand that the astounding revelations in 
connection with the development of the United States have 

(105) 



Io6 PRINCIPLES OF PREE-TRADE. 

shaken all the old theories respecting free-trade and protec 
tion, and made a new political economy possible, if not 
necessary. 

A primary law of political economy is that an increase 
of the productiveness of the country implies an increase of 
its capital. No law can create capital. 

A second law is that productiveness depends on the num- 
ber of laborers. Legislation cannot create men. 

A third law is that productiveness depends on the stim- 
ulus to labor. Protection changes only the mode of labor. 
If it attracts manufacturers, it repels agriculturalists, and, 
vice versa. What it pays as a stimulus to one industry it 
subtracts from another. Hence there is no gain to labor 
as a whole. 

Protection increases the price of an article. As price in- 
creases, demand diminishes. The less an article is wanted, 
the less it will be produced. The demand for labor dimin- 
ishes. The price of labor diminishes. The stimulus to 
labor is decreased. 

The watchword of free-traders, or freedom of exchange, 
is Laissez faire ; laissez passer : " leave it alone." This is 
nature. Allow every one to buy and sell where he can do 
so most advantageously, whether in or out of his own 
country. 

Revenue from customs on foreign goods may be per- 
mitted by the doctrine of laissez faire, but it is a tax, and a 
bad one. 

To establish duties under the pretext of protecting 
national industries is an iniquitous measure fatal to the gen- 
eral interests. 

By forcing a consumer to buy at a higher price than he 
would have otherwise, or elsewhere, to pay, is to perpetrate 
the injustice of taxing one class for the benefit of another. 



PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. I07 

Political economy draws no distinction between classes. 
So, if it be said that protection by means of tariff duties has 
for its purpose the favor of labor, it favors a class, none the 
less. 

True industrial economy aims not to increase but dimin- 
ish labor. If, with what I can earn in one day, I can buy a 
yard of cloth from a foreigner, why force me to spend two 
days' labor for the same ? 

An injury is done to humanity by a system which forces 
men into manufactories. The custom house snatches men, 
women and children from open air tasks, and chains them 
in gloomy workshops for twelve to fourteen hours out of 
twenty-four. 

Free-trade applies to whole peoples the principle of the 
division of labor, assures them all that such principle can 
bestow, and thereby enhances their welfare. 

When each is employed at what he can do best, the indi- 
vidual shares are greatest. 

When each is compelled by legislation to do what he must, 
and what he may not have aptitude for, the aggregate of 
labor will not be so great, and the individual will be worse 
off. 

So when each country or nation fails to devote its ener- 
gies to what nature most favors, it will not bring to market 
the maximum obtained by the minimum of toil, but the re- 
sults of a diminished productivity. 

No man can be so self-sufficient as to confine himself to 
the manufacture of his food, clothing, furniture, books, etc. 
The nation is no better off than the man. 

Protection obliges me to grow wheat, without reference 
to soil. But in nature my soil may be sandy, and I could 
better afford to raise something else in exchange for wheat, 
which grows better on my neighbor's clay soil. 



to8 PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 

Commerce is always an exchange of produce against pro- 
duce. So much exported, so much imported. Therefore 
the foreigner cannot inundate us with goods. The differ- 
ent countries cannot sell more than they buy. 

Industrial progress begets competition. Don't limit it at 
the confines of a state or nation. The widest competition 
is the most universal profit. Monopoly means sloth ; pro- 
tection, routine. The manufacturer who is forced to keep 
hold of the home market will conquer the world. 

A railroad uniting two countries facilitates exchanges ; 
customs dues impede them. 

Free-trade has for its object the diminution of labor. 
Machinery has the same object. Protection, therefore, 
should demand the abolition of machinery, in order to be 
consistent. 

Capital turns spontaneously to the most lucrative employ- 
ment. Protection turns it to the less lucrative, and seeks to 
make up the difference by a tax on consumers. 

The argument that a country should be independent of 
foreigners in time of war is of no avail in this era of easy 
and ready transportation. Neutral ships may transport the 
goods of belligerents. The blockade of a nation is impos- 
sible. 

The doctrine of free-trade, like that of protection, is 
oftentimes best sustained by attacking and exploding the 
theories of the adversary. 

Modern politics, especially the politics of a free country 
like that of the United States, are prolific of arguments and 
phrases which greatly affect the stereotyped theories of free- 
trade and protection. 

Hence, having passed from the ascertained laws of free- 
trade, as found in the books, and as built on the experience 
of foreign countries, on monarchical conditions, and on a 




Benjamin R. Tillman. 

isorn in Edgefield Co., .S. C, Aug. 11, 1817 ; joined Confederate Army, 
1864; a farmer till 1886 ; engaged in agitation which led to establish- 
ment of Clemson Agricultural and Mechanical College at Fort Hill ; 
farmers' candidate for Governor in 1890; elected in Nov.; re-elected in 
1892; term signalized by passage of dispensary law and founding of 
another college, the Winthrop Normal and Industrial College for 
Women, at Rock Hill ; entered the race for candidate against Senator 
Butler, and the two canvassed the State together ; elected to U. S. Senate 
in 1895 ; member of Committees on Mines and Mining, Naval Affairs, 
Public Lands, Canada Relations, and Forest Preservation. 




Hon. Charles F. Ceisp. 

Born in Sheffield, England, January 29, 1845, of American parents; 
educated ir. common schools of Savannah and Macon, Ga. ; entered 
Confederate army, May, 1861 ; a prisoner of war, 1864-65; studied law 
in Ame^icus, Ga., and admitted to bar, 1866; practiced in Ellaville ; 
appointed Solicitor-general in 1872 and again in 1873 ; moved to Americus 
in 1878 ; appointed Judge of Superior Court, 1876, and elected to same, 
1878 ; re-elected Judge, 1880 ; elected to 48ih, 49th, 50th, 51st, 52d, 53d 
and 54th Congresses ; elected Speaker of House in 52d and 53d Con- 
gresses; member of the Committees on Ways and Means and Rule? 



PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. ill 

geography, climatology and sociology different from our 
own, there is opportunity for new laws founded on different 
natural and commercial conditions. This also gives free 
play to the doctrines respecting protection. 

Bearing this in mind, we are prepared for opinions and 
assertions which have weight in free discussion, but which 
are somewhat removed from the seriousness and weight of 
fortified laws. 

These are none the less worthy of consideration, for even 
if there is no economic law back of them, they may fore- 
shadow truths which experience will ripen into economic 
axiom. As other nations, less expansive than ours, less 
liberally endowed by nature, and altogether less advanced 
in industrial and commercial knowledge and opportunity, 
have formulated economic laws, which are quoted with 
favor and accepted as final, so this nation may well assume 
to ascertain what is best for itself, and to give: its conclu- 
pions the form of economic axiom. 

In this point of view the American political economist 
becomes an impressive and invaluable economist, and the 
passionate wisdom of the partisan something which is crude 
quartz to the view, yet with crystals of gold inside. 

As instances, the protectionist is challenged for reply by 
the declaration that the system of protection is sustained 
by the co-operation of its beneficiaries, and that they are 
held together by the " cohesive power of public plunder." 

Similarly, by the declaration that the tariff is a tax upon 
the consumer, and that, especially, when imposed on raw 
materials. Ten cents a pound upon wool means that the 
consumer will have to pay that much more for the cloth 
made of that pound. 

So, when a tariff is declared to be vicious in principle 



112 PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 

that seeks to perpetuate high rates. Hamilton is quoted, 
in 1791 : 

" The continuance of bounties on manufactures long es- 
tablished must always be of questionable policy; because a 
presumption would arise in every such case that there were 
natural and inherent impediments to success." 

Clay is quoted, in 1833 : 

** The theory of protection supposes, too, that after a cer- 
tain time the protected arts will have acquired such strength 
and perfection as will enable them, subsequently, unaided 
to stand against foreign competition." 

The theory that a tariff protects labor by furnishing it 
employment is the old theory of " the maximum of toil 
and the minimum of profit," whereas the true economic 
theory is " the minimum of toil and the maximum of profit." 

A tariff favors a class and tends to monopolies and the 
formation of trusts, with power to regulate prices and bur- 
den consumers. 

A protective tariff and protective policy is not such a 
public policy as needs to be supported by the people at 
large. The principle and fact are denied that protection of 
m article by levying a duty on it tends to cheapen the price 
of the article, after its manufacture has been established. 

To defend protection is to justify the taking of one man's 
money and putting it in another's pocket. 

The tariff that looks to the protection of labor really in- 
jures labor when it leads to the production of articles in 
this country cheaper than abroad. 

Gladstone defends free-trade on moral grounds — the com- 
mercial doing as you would wish to be done by. 

Patrick Henry said : 

" Commerce should be as free as the winds of heaven ; a 
restricted commerce is like a man in chains, crippled in all 



PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 113 

his movements and bowed to the earth ; but let him twist 
the fetters from his legs and he stands erect." 

Protection has invoiced many wars and rebellions. The 
head-spring of tlie American Revolution was the Naviga- 
tion Act, an English system of protection which sacrificed 
to English monopoly the natural rights of her colonies. 

In keeping with the Navigation Act were other English 
laws suppressing important manufactures as well as internal 
trade in the colonies. In the land of the beaver no man 
could be a hatter unless he had served seven years as an 
apprentice at the trade. No American liat could be sent 
out of one province into another. Steel furnaces, plating 
forges and slitting mills were prohibited as nuisances. Lord 
Chatham said that in a certain contingency he would pro- 
hibit the manufacture in the American Colonics of even so 
much as a horseshoe or a hobnail. Lord Sheffield declared 
that the only use England had for the American Colonies 
was " the monopoly of their consumption and the carriage 
of their produce." These violations of natural law worked 
their own overthrow, and the mother :ountry lost the 
brightest jewel in her crown. This event led England to 
re-examine her commercial system and to adopt the policy 
of free-trade. 

Adam Smith completed his great work, " Nature and 
Causes of the Wealth of Nations," the very year America 
declared her independence, 1776. 

In 1 8 17, when Parliament repealed the duty on salt, the 
agents of the salt monopolies plead for a prohibitory duty 
on it. "Thus fell," says Thomas H. Benton, "an odious, 
impious and criminal tax." 

" The leaven of free-trade principles continued to work 
in England under the wise and skilful supervision of Rich- 



114 PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 

ard Cobden, and reached its culminating triiynph in the re- 
peal of the Corn Laws in 1846." — Richard H awl ey. 

In 1842 England exported goods to the amount of ^570,- 
000,000, and in 1865 to the amount of ^1,815,000,000. In 
the same time her imports rose from ^326,000,000 to ^909,- 
000,000. In 1842 the number of articles subject to duty 
was 1,150; in 1870 only 43 articles were subject to duty, 
and the duty was not protective. Yet her revenue from 
customs was about the same in 1870 as in 1842. She now 
levies duty only on about a dozen articles, such as tea, coffee, 
tobacco, spirits, wines, etc. 

Hon. David A. Wells makes an argument for free-trade, 
or free exchange, thus : — " Population in the United States 
increased from i86q to 1870, 22.2 per cent. The products 
of our manufactures increased in the same period 52 per 
cent. This tendency of manufacturing products to increase 
faster than population gluts our home markets and shows 
the necessity for larger and freer commerce." 

" There is no nation," says he, " or country, or commu- 
nity, nor probably any one man, that is not, by reason of 
differences in soil, climate, physical or mental capacities, at 
advantage or disadvantage as respects some other nation, 
country, community or men in producing or doing some- 
thing useful. It is only a brute, furthermore, as economists 
have long recognized, that can find a full satisfaction for its 
desires in its immediate surroundings ; while poor indeed 
must be the man of civilization that does not lay every 
quarter of the globe under contribution every morning for 
his breakfast. Hence — springing out of this diversity in the 
powers of production, and of wants in respect to locations 
and individuals — the origin of trade. Hence its necessity 
and advantage ; and the man who has not sufficient educa- 
tion to read the letters of any printed book perceives by 



PRINCIPIvES OF FREE-TRADE. 115 

instinct, more clearly, as a general rule, than the man of 
civilization, that if he can trade freely, he can better his con- 
dition and increase the sum of his happiness; for the first 
thing the savage, when brought in contact with civilized 
man, wants to do, is to exchange ; and the first effort of 
every new settlement in any new country, after providing 
temporary food and shelter, is to open a road or other means 
of communication to some other settlement, in order that 
they may trade or exchange the commodities which they 
can produce to advantage, for the products which some 
others can produce to greater advantage. And, obeying 
this same natural instinct, the heart of every man, that has 
not been filled with prejudice of race or country, or per- 
verted by talk about the necessity of tariffs and custom- 
houses, experiences a pleasurable emotion when it learns 
that a new road has been opened, a new railroad constructed, 
or that the time of crossing the seas has been greatly short- 
ened ; and if to-day it could be announced that the problem 
of aerial navigation had been solved, and that hereafter 
everybody could go everywhere, with all their goods and 
chattels, for one-tenth of the cost and in one-tenth of the 
time that is now required, one universal shout of jubilation 
would arise spontaneously from the whole civilized world. 
And why? Simply because everybody would feel that 
there would be forthwith a multitude of new wants, an equal 
multitude of new satisfactions, an increase of business in 
putting wants and satisfactions into the relations of equa- 
tions in which one side would balance the other, and an in- 
crease of comfort and happiness everywhere." 

"All trade," he says, " is at the bottom a matter of barter; 
product being given for product and service for service; 
that in order to sell we must buy, and in order to buy we must 
sell ; and that he who won't buy can't sell, and he who won't 



n6 PRINCIPLEvS OF FREE-TRADE. 

sell can't buy. . . . The United States, for now a long series 
of years, has, in its fiscal policy, denied or ignored the truth 
of the above economic, axiomatic principles. It has not, 
indeed, in so many distinct words said to the American pro- 
ducers and laborers, You shall not sell your products and 
,your labor to the people of other countries ; but it has em- 
phatically said to the producers and laborers of other coun- 
tries. We do not think it desirable that you should sell your 
products or your labor in this country ; and, as far as we can 
interpose legal obstructions, we don't intend that you shall ! 
But in shutting others out, we have at the same time, and 
necessarily, shut ourselves in. And herein is trouble No. i. 
The house is too small, measured by the power of producing, 
for those that live in it. And remedy No. i is to be found 
in withdrawing the bolts, taking off the locks, opening tht 
doors, and getting out and clear of all restrictions on pro 
ducing and the disposal of products." 

Mr. Wells illustrates his theory by the failure of the 
United States to compete with England for the trade of 
Chili, Argentine and other countries. For though we could 
place our cotton manufactures in those countries as cheaply 
as England could, we refused to take their products freely 
in turn, or except by first imposing a duty on them. The 
position assumed by Mr. Wells that " all trade is at the bol- 
tom a matter of barter," ignores, in part, the function of 
money in the making of exchanges. He was answered 
thus by a " Protection" writer: 

" The function of money, or its representatives, is that of 
enabling indirect exchanges to be made. The shoemaker 
buys his cabbages from one man and sells his shoes to an ■ 
other. Trade, in place of being a right line between two 
points, becomes, so to speak, triangular and polygonal. 

" This applies pre-eminently to nations, which are aggre- 



PRINCIPLES OF FREK-TRADE. n? 

gations of individuals, each of whom acts according to his 
individual interest, in place of being, as Mr. Wells assumes, 
units actuated by a common purpose, and asking, before 
they buy a yard of calico, whether a half-pound of copper 
reeulus will be taken in barter. If a Chilian merchant can 
buy a salable bale of Fall River cloths cheaper than a simi- 
lar bale from Manchester, he will not reject it because the 
Fall River mill cannot buy Chilian copper. He knows that 
the copper will be sold to Swansea, and that the resulting 
bill of exchange on London will settle his debt at Fall 
River as readily as at Manchester. He knows, moreover, 
that if he patriotically refuses to buy the Fall River goods, 
his competitor across the street v/ill do so and will under- 
sell him. All this is the A B C of trade, and no pathetic 
groaning over the 55,000,000 yards of cotton supplied by 
England, in comparison with the 5,000,000 yards supplied 
by the United States in 1874, will get rid of it." 

Again, Mr. Wells' attention was called to the fact that 
the removal of restrictions on trade, which restrictions are 
occasioned by the imposition of duties, did not in fact tend 
to make countries buy of the United States, even though 
the United States was their best customer. Thus, in 1876, 
as an instance, the United States bought of Brazil coffee 
and India rubber, on which no duties were levied, to the 
amount of ^44,000,000, and sent in turn only ;^7,5OO,0OO of 
her own products. This state of affairs Mr. Wells ascribes 
to the absence of shipping facilities on the part of the 
United States, which absence he accounts for by reason of 
the same mistaken fiscal and commercial policy he had 
been speaking against. 

Free-traders deny that protection tends to keep up the 
price of labor. Germany and France demand high duties 
in order to protect their ill-paid laborers from competition 



ii8 PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 

with the better paid labor of England. Therefore, low 
wages do not enable a country to compete with another 
country. As to this country, such are the advantages of 
combined capital and labor that the workmen are capable 
of a larger output than in other countries, and this enables 
the employer to afford them better wages. The general 
high rate of wages with us is due to the productiveness of 
labor, or, in other words, to the energy and efficiency of 
our laborers, the extended use of machinery and our great 
natural resources. 

Prof. Taussig lays down the doctrine that it is wrong to 
limit duties to articles which can be produced in this coun- 
try. Many of such articles, such as wool, iron and silks, 
are in the nature of raw material and enter into the manu- 
facture of other articles. Tea, coffee and sugar are entered 
free of duty. A duty on these would have no such effect 
as a duty on iron, namely, that of turning the industry of 
the country into unproductive channels. If revenue must 
be raised by duties on imports, those duties should fall on 
articles not produced in this country, just as the internal 
taxes fall on tobacco and spirits. 

During the thirty years that the English corn laws were 
in existence the prosperity of the farmer continually de- 
clined. Earm labor suffered in proportion. Artisans and 
laborers in manufactories were reduced to penury. The 
peace of the country, and even the existence of the govern- 
ment, were threatened. 

Sir Robert Peel, who had changed from Protection to 
Free-trade and had championed the repeal of the Corn 
Laws, said on retiring from power : " I shall surrender 
power severely censured by those who, from no interested 
motives, adhere to Protection, considering it essential to 
the welfare and interests of the country. I shall leave a 



PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 119 

name execrated by every monopolist who, from less honor- 
able motives, clamors for Protection, because it conduces to 
his own individual benefit. But, it may be, that I shall 
leave a name sometimes remembered with expressions of 
"•ood will in the abodes of those whose lot is to labor, 
and to earn their bread by the sweat of their brows, when 
they shall recruit their strength with abundant and untaxed 
food, the sweeter because it is no longer leavened with a 
sense of injustice." 

The entire doctrine of Free-trade was confirmed by reso- 
lution in the British House of Commons in 1852, and the 
Protectionists gave up the battle. 

In the United States, from 1824 to 1833, the demands of 
Protectionists threatened the peace of the nation, just as 
their demands did in England. 

At the time of the adoption of the compromise tariff of 
1833, President Jackson said in his message of that year: 
" Those who take an enlarged view of the condition of our 
country must be satisfied that the policy of Protection must 
he ultimately limited to those articles of domestic manu- 
facture which are indispensable to our safety in time of war. 
Within this scope, on a reasonable scale, it is recommended 
by every consideration of patriotism and duty, which will 
always, doubtless, secure for it a liberal support ; but be- 
yond this object we have already seen the operation of the 
system productive of discontent. In some sections of the 
Union its influence is deprecated as tending to concentrate 
wealth in few hands and as creating those germs of de- 
pendence and vice which in other countries have character- 
ized the existence of monopolies and proved so destructive 
of liberty and the public good. A large proportion of the 
public in one section of the Union declares it not only in- 
expedient on these grounds, but as disturbing the equal 



I20 PRINCIPIvES OF FREE-TRADR. 

relations of capital by legislation and therefore unconstitu- 
tional and unjust." 

Said Senator Rowan, of Kentucky, in 1828: "It is in 
vain that Protection is called the 'American System.' 
Names do not alter things. There is but one American 
system, and that is delineated in the State and Federal Con- 
stitutions. It is the system of equal rights secured by the 
Constitution — a system which instead of subjecting the 
labor of some to taxation with a view to enrich others, se- 
cures to all the proceeds of their labor, exempt from taxa- 
tion except for the support of the protecting powers of the 
government." 

As chairman of the " Committee on Manufactures " in 
1832, John Quincy Adams said : — " The doctrine that duties 
of import seem to cheapen the price of the article on which 
they are levied, seems to conflict with the first dictates of 
common sense. The duty constitutes a part of the price of 
the whole mass of the article in the market. It is substan- 
tially paid upon the article of domestic manufacture, as well 
as upon that of foreign production. Upon one it is a bounty, 
upon the other a burden, and the repeal of the tax must 
operate as an equivalent reduction of the price of the article 

whether foreign or domestic We say so long as the 

importation continues, the duty must be paid by the pur- 
chaser of the article." 

In 1846 George M. Dallas said: — "This exercise of the 
taxing (tariff) power was originally intended to be tem- 
porary. The design was to foster feeble infant manufactures, 
especially such as were essential for the defence of the coun- 
try in time of war. In this design the people have per- 
severed until these saplings have taken root, become vigorous, 
expanded and powerful, and are prepared to enter with con- 
fidence the field of fair, free and universal competition." 



PRINCIPLKvS OF FRICn-TRADK. 121 

Protection is responsible for the evils resulting from a 
violation of law known as smuggling. This practice, or 
crime, is as baneful and disastrous to the honest tradesmen 
as the competition of free-trade is healthful and beneficial. 

Taking the two decades, 1840 to 1850, and 1850 to i860, 
and regarding the first as a period which was most affected 
by the high tariff of 1842, and the last as most affected by 
the free-trade tariff of 1846, the contrast is in favor of the 
last decade. During the non-protective period cotton manu- 
factures increased 130 per cent., woollen manufactures in- 
creased 62 per cent, and mostly between 1857 and i860, 
when the cheaper grades of wool were admitted free. The 
year i860 saw the manufacture of 913,000 tons of pig-iron 
at good prices, or 100,000 tons more than any previous 
year. In i860 the aggregate of our exports showed an in- 
crease of 200 per cent, in ten years. The decade between 
1850 and i860 showed an increase of agricultural produc- 
tions of 100 per cent, over the previous decade. In i860 
our total exports were ^400,000,000, or ;^43, 500,000 more 
than any previous year ; and our imports were 1^362,000,000, 
a much larger amount than any previous year. We con- 
sumed far more sugar, tea and coffee, per capita, during the 
free-trade tariff decade than the previous one, and also more 
than between the years of i860 and 1868, years of protec- 
tion. Farms increased in value 103 per cent, between 1850 
and i860. Farm products increased from 75 to 100 per 
cent. The products of all our manufactures was ^553,000,000 
in 1850; in i860, it was ;^ 1,009 ,000,000. From 1840 to 
1850 the real and personal property in the United States in- 
creased 80 per cent.; between 1850 and i860 it increasec^ 
126 per cent. At no time prior to 1850- 1860 had the cap- 
ital of the nation increased so fast, and nothing demonstrates 
so forcibly the success of free-trade principles in the United 



122 PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TRADE. 

States. In 1850 there were 872 banks; in i860, 1562; 
while banking capital increased from ^227,500,000 to 
;^42 2,000,000. Vast sums were expended in railroad build- 
ing during the decade-=-2 1,613 "liles being built, as against 
904 miles between 1842 and 1846. 

Protective duties on wool depress the price of domestic 
wool and injure wool-growers. The reason is that when the 
supply of wool-growing countries is shut out of our market, 
it floods Europe at so low a figure as to enable European 
manufacturers to make the finer class of goods and sell them 
to us, duty paid, at a lower figure than we can afford to 
make them. The price of American wool has not risen 
with higher tarifife. 

By the time Protection pays the penalty of over-produc- 
tion, it makes it too costly as an experiment. James 
Buchanan said in 1846: — "Our Domestic Manufactures 
have been saved by the election of James K. Polk from be- 
ing overwhelmed by the immense capital which would 
have rushed into them for investment, and from an expan- 
sion of the currency which would have nullified any protec- 
tion short of prohibition." 

So Hon. James Lloyd, of Massachusetts, said in the 
Senate in 1820: — " I am interested in manufactures. I own 
stock in one of the cotton-mills running in my State. It 
regularly pays good dividends and is likely to do so con- 
tinually if the tariff is let alone. But if you pass the bill, 
hundreds of such factories will be erected, till the market is 
glutted with their fabrics, when prices must fall and our 
concern very possibly be broken down." 

Of the year i860, the end of the free-trade era. General 
J;^mes A. Garfield said : — " I suppose it will be admitted on 
all hands that i860 was a year of unusual business prosperity 
in the United States. It was at a time when the bounties of 



PRINCIPIvKS OF rRRR-TRADE. 123 

Providence were scattered with a liberal hand over the face 
of the Repubhc; it was at a time when all classes of our 
community were well and profitably employed ; it was a 
time of peace, the apprehension of our great war had not 
)et seized the minds of our people ; great crops, north and 
south — great general prosperity — marked the era." 

Hon. Caleb B. Smith, President Lincoln's Secretary of the 
Interior, says in his report: — "Without any special stimulus 
to growth — depressed indeed, during the years 1857 and 
1858, in common with other public interests by the general 
embarrassments of those years, and with a powerful com- 
petition in the amazing growth of manufactures in Great 
Britain and nearly every other nation in Europe — the manu- 
factories of the United States had nevertheless augmented, 
diversified and perfected in nearly every branch and uni- 
formly throughout the Union. Domestic materials, whether 
animal, vegetable or mineral, found ready sales at remunera- 
tive prices and were increased in amount with the demand, 
while commerce and internal trade were invigorated by the 
distribution of both raw and manufactured products. Inven- 
tion was stimulated and rewarded. Labor and capital found 
ample and profitable employment, and new and unexpected 
fields were opened to each. Agriculture furnished food and 
materialsat moderate cost, and the skill of ourartisans cheap- 
ened and multiplied all artificial instruments of comfort and 
happiness for the people. Even the more purely agricul- 
tural States of the South were rapidly creating manufactories 
for the improvement of their great staples and their abundant 
natural resources. The nation seemed speedily approach- 
ing a period of complete independence in respect to the 
products of skilled labor, and national security and happi- 
ness seemed about to be insured by the harmonious develop- 
ment of all the great interests of the people." 



124 PllINCiPLES OF FEEE-TilADE. 

The principle of free trade has never been applied abso- 
lutely in the United States. Nu politcal party has been 
brave enough to dare the trial. Yet the arguments in 
favor of free trade are all invoked when the protective 
system is attacked, and even when the design is to lay 
down tariff laws embodying only the doctrine of tariff for 
revenue. This has been strikingly exemplified in the 
history of tariff discussion subsequent to 1887, which was 
the date of Mr. Cleveland's celebrated message announc- 
ing the necessity for " Tariff Reform. " His main argu- 
ment was an elaboration of the idea that tariffs were a 
source of burdensome and unnecessary taxes, bearing as 
directly on the people as any other taxes, and so to be 
gotten rid of as speedily as possible. 

So also, in these later discussions over tariff reform, the 
free trade doctrine that tariffs fostered trusts was given un- 
usual importance. Perhaps this argument was never used 
so effectively before, for it was given strength by the fact 
that trusts had grown in number and extent out of all pro- 
portion to the legitimate needs of corporate or partnership 
enterprise. Whether free trade, or even tariff reform, would 
prove a panacea for the evil of trusts, was not argued in 
an historic or even economic sense, for it was taken for 
granted that since their presence in a time of protection 
was due to protection, therefore absence of protection 
would work their destruction. 

Again, the argument that free trade meant for this and 
all countries an open and, therefore, more profitable 
market, was given especial significance in that economic 
revolution which came about through the passage of the 
Wilson tariff bill. It will be remembered that that bill 
as originally drafted went as far as its sujDporters dare go in 
the application of free trade principles, without trenching 



i 



PRINCIPLES OF FREE-TllADE. 125 

on the revenues of the government. It might be men- 
tioned that, as the sequel proved, they went further than 
they intended to go, for in its practical workings the 
Wilson act failed to produce its share of public revenue. 
But the point in this connection was that it was to open 
the markets of this country to other countries, and, by 
parity of reasoning, the markets of other countries to this 
one. As this argument never before had such opportu- 
nity for direct and able support and for full and free appli- 
cation, economists as well as the interests affected will await 
with anxiety its practical results. And this anxiety will 
be intensified, and economic study greatly advanced, by 
coupling with those results the fact that in the application 
of the argument of open markets to the Wilson tariff bill, 
a part of the aim, and an aim wholly accomplished, was 
the destruction of the principle of reciprocity as found in- 
corporated in the McKinley Act of 1890. This principle, 
at the time of its incorporation into the above act, was 
said to be a step in the direction of free trade. The argu- 
ments in its favor were certainly analagous for a certain 
distance, to those used by free traders in favor of open 
markets, and in principle the two aims to be accomplished 
are nearly identical. 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

The doctrine of protection starts without a doubt as to 
nomenclature. As a principle, it admits of no exception 
in the first chapters of the history of every commercial 
nation. 

The commercial nation never existed that did not, at 
first, protect itself. So astute, refined and far-reaching has 
commerce become, that no nation which refuses to protect 
itself can ever hope to test its fitness for commercial suprem- 
acy, or independence, much less obtain it. 

The same is true of industrial and manufacturing inde-- 
pendence, both of which imply commercial independence, 
the moment transit is acknowledged as a subject of pro- 
tection. 

Nature supplemented by art made American transit supreme, 
or nearly so, when ships were of wood. Art combined with 
nature made English ships supreme, when ships came to be 
of iron. But nature is still on our side as to iron. Add the 
art of England to American nature, and transit will have it3 
old supremacy. Art is protection and protection art. 

A protective tariff provides revenue for the government 
in a better way than any other kind of a tariff England 
levies duties for revenue only. They fall on two classes of 
articles ; first, luxuries ; second, on articles that cannot be 
raised or produced profitably at home and cannot come into 
competition with home productions. It so happens that 
the latter class of articles embraces tea, coffee and many 
things which rank as necessities among the common people. 

Protection omits duties, when not required for simple 
126 




Hon. William B. Allison. 

Born at Perry, Ohio, March 2, 1829 ; educated at Western Reserve 
College ; admitted to bar in Ohio ; moved to lowra, 1857 ; served on 
Governor's staff durin; war; elected as Republican to 38th, 39th, 40ih 
and 41st Congresses ; elected to United States Senate, 1872; re-elected, 
1878, 1884 and 1890 ; one of the oldest, ablest and most respected 
Senators ; Chairman oi Committee on Appropriations ; Member of Com- 
mittees on Engrossed Bills, Finance, Census, Extension of Library, and 
Geological Survey; prominent candidate for Presidential nominee Ull 
the Republican ticket in 1896» 




Ih)N. William E. Chandler. 

Born at Concord, New Hampshire, December 28, 1835 ; graduated at 
Harvard Law School and admitted to bar, 1855 ; reporter of Supreme 
Court, 1859; member of New Hampshire Legislature, 1862-63-64; 
Speaker of House, 1863-64; Solicitor and Judge Advocate-General 
of Navy Department, 1865 ; First Assistant Secretary of Treasury, June 
17, 1865-November 30, 1867 ; member of the New Hampshire Con- 
stitutiional Convention, 1876; elected to New Hampshire Legislature, 
1881 ; appointed Solicitor-General by President Garfield, 1881, and re- 
jected by Senate ; appointed Secretary of Navy by President Arthur, 
April 12, 1882, and served till March 7, 1885; elected as Republican 
to United States Senate, June 14, 1887 ; re-elected June 18, 1889, and 
again, January 16, 1895; Chairman of Committee on Census, and 
member of other important Committees. 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 129 

revenue, from tea, sugar, coffee, and articles which rank as 
necessities, and which cannot be produced profitably at 
home or cannot come into competition with home produc- 
tions, and in their stead levies discriminating duties upon 
articles that come in direct competition with home pro- 
ducts. 

The rate of such duties is adjusted, in theory, so that the 
foreign product cannot enter the home market at a price 
below what it can be produoed for at home, with a fair profit 
included. 

Some rates are prohibitory, as when there is desire or 
determination to found a new industry; but as a rule they 
are simply discriminative, and in favor of industries which 
exist, but which would cease to exist unless protected. 

Since labor constitutes a large per cent, of manufactured 
products — in some products as much as ninety per cent, of 
the cost — the most direct effect of protection is to maintain 
the price of that labor as it enters into the home product, 
and preserve it from competition with the cheaper labor that 
enters into the same product abroad. 

The effect of protection ©n labor is direct and indirect. 
When the price of labor in protected industries is main- 
tained, that in the unprotected industries is also maintained. 

The application of protection to industries in this country 
reverses the doctrine of political economists that the price 
of an article is increased to the consumer by just the amount 
®f duty imposed upon it. 

Protection may increase the price of an article temporarily, 
and by some per cent, of the duty levied, but the price de- 
clines as the home manufacture of the article enlarges and 
home competition sets in. 

Protection encourages capital and invites it into enter- 



I30 tRINCIPLEv^ OF' PROTECTION. 

prises from ■ which it would shrink, owing to its natural 
conservatism. 

The spirit of invention and the employment of labor-sav- 
ing machinery and devices are encouraged by protection. 

Labor yields most when aided by artificial appliances and 
cheered by liberal and certain remuneration. 

The last three factors render production exceptional in 
this country. Together with the law of competition, they 
furnish an output of products better in quality and cheaper 
in price than those of nations that rely solely on cheap labor 
for cheap price. The cheapness of protection does not 
imply degradation of labor, but greater deftness of hand, 
quickened genius, advantage of natural opportunity. 

The tariff is not a tax. While most articles, whose home 
manufacture has been encouraged by a duty upon them, sell 
at no higher price than when imported, many such sell for 
a less price than the duty imposed. 

When the foreign producer lands his goods here, and 
finds them in competition with home-made goods, he pays 
the duty. 

Says a Bradford, England, n^anufacturer: "The least pos- 
sible reduction in the American tariff will be a grand thing 
for Bradford. We are selling our goods for the same prices 
we did before the higher tariff was enacted, and I know the 
Bradford manufacturer is paying the duty, not the American 
consumer." 

Another English manufacturer says : " If the duties came 
out of the American consumer the English manufacturer 
would not care a button about the American tariff laws." 

Friedrich List, founder of the German ZoUvercin, or Cus- 
tom's Union, Adam Smith and John Stuart Mill, all sub- 
scribe to the doctrine that a country which is exclusively 
agricultural is necessarily backward. They instance Poland. 



IPRINCIPLES OP PROTKCTIOM. rar 

> Since, then, although it is undoubtedly bad for privileges 
to give rise to artificial industries, many industries well 
suited to the nature of a country will never develop there 
unless at first protected. The best road to arrive at free- 
trade and obtain from it the maximum advantage lies through 
a temporary adoption of protection." 

Protection in this country at first vindicated itself by the 
example of all civilized nations. Then, by universal ac- 
quiescence in the principle that duties on imports were more 
cheerfully paid than any species of tax for revenue. Now 
it vindicates itself by what it has achieved for the country 
in the domain of capital and labor. It claims to have won 
by honest effort and practical results the title, "American 
System." 

" The safety and interest of the people require that they 
should promote such manufactures as tend to render them 
independent of others for essential, particularly for military, 
supplies." — George Washington. 

" That it may be expedient to guard the infancy of this 
improvement (' useful manufactures ') by legislation of the 
commercial tariff, cannot fail to suggest itself to your pa- 
triotic reflections." Again, " In adjusting the duties on 
imports to the object of revenue, the influence of the tariff 
on manufactures will necessarily present itself for considera- 
tion. However wise the theory may be which leaves to the 
sagacity and interest of individuals the application of their 
industry and resources, there are in this, as in all cases, ex- 
ceptions to the rule." — jfanies Madison. 

As to the highest duties of the government, Thomas 
Jefferson, in his second annual message, said : It is " to cul- 
tivate peace and maintain commerce and navigation in all 
their lawful enterprises ; to foster our fisheries as nurseries 



132 PRINCIPLKvS OF PROTKCTION. 

of navigation for the nurture of man ; and to protect the 
manufactures suited to our circumstances." 

"The restrictive legislation of 1808-15 was, for the time 
being, equivalent to extreme protection. The consequent 
rise of a considerable class of manufactures, whose success 
depended largely on the continuance of protection, formed 
the basis of a strong movement for more decided limitation 
of foreign competition." — Prof. Taussig. 

Adam Smith, the father of free-trade, admits that could 
any number of communities, producing what each other 
wants, be brought into commercial contact, there would 
have been no need of his evolving the doctrine of free- 
trade. In this country there are forty-four, and more, of 
such communities. 

What was a theory with Hamilton, that protection tended 
to lower the price of protected articles, became a fact under 
the operation of our tariff legislation. 

The genius of a nation is at its best when not subjected 
to conditions foreign to it. To let institutions have sway 
here which are born abroad, and which may be best for 
abroad, would be for us to subject ourselves to monarchy. 
It would be just the same if we lost our commercial or in- 
dustrial Americanism and became subject to the codes 
which demean labor by caste and enslave it by hereditary 
custom. 

The protection which monarchical countries, without ex- 
ception, patronized and by which they exist was never in 
the interest of labor as now in this country. 

The conditions which exist in America are wholly dif- 
ferent from those which gave color to free-trade as a doc- 
trine with European economists. Had they been situated 
as we are, and known what we know, they would have col- 
lated and deduced differently. In one hundred years 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 133 

America has established a set of statistical facts which ut- 
terly destroy the deductions based on facts of an older 
regime and on conditions never dreamed of Protection in 
the United States is really a new political economy, of far 
more worth to us than the economic visions of one hundred 
years ago, indulged by men who knew no distinction be- 
tween labor and serfdom and who saw no hope for enter- 
prise outside of capital linked with landed aristocracy and 
lordly title. 

Protection has long since triumphed over the argument 
that it was unconstitutional. This argument is not urged 
to-day except by the very ignorant or very prejudiced. But 
the argument reappears in the charge that protection fosters 
monopoly. This was Calhoun's standing argument. He 
saw that it enured more to the benefit of free paid labor than 
of slave unpaid labor, and that it encouraged the manufac- 
turing as against the planting classes. The industries which 
involved invention, skill, competition, live capital and paid 
labor were the ones which protection favored. Those which 
involved none of these received no benefit from protection 
and did not need it. His views of monopoly turned on this 
point. Since the downfall of slavery the heart has been 
taken out of the monopoly argument, for it has become plain 
to all that what improves the condition of the entire people 
does not savor of monopoly. 

Protection protects against monopoly. Before the tariff 
of 1824 American cottons sold at 24 cents a yard. After 
that tariff, they sold at 7^ cents a yard. New mills, im- 
proved machinery and increased competition, put a better 
material in the market at a third of the price. 

The monopoly may be foreign. England sold us steel 
rails, for railroads, at ^150 per ton. She continued to do 
this till 1870, when a duty of ^28 a ton was levied. Under 



T34 PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

this protection we began to build mills for their manufacture. 
The price of steel rails began to decline. They are now sold 
at a profit at from $2)3 to $40 a ton. English monopolj'- wa? 
costing us five prices for a ton of rails. 

Protection gives us competing power abroad. Our cotton 
textiles are recognized as the best in the markets of the 
world. The same is true of our edge-tools and agricultural 
implements. European manufacturers imitate these Amer- 
ican good? and use American labels in order to hold the 
markets of South America and the Orient. When this 
competing power is amplified by reciprocity and by direc' 
steam communicat'on, both of which are protective, no na 
tion can rival us in South American and Chinese markets. 

A tariff for revenue is a tax. A tariff on tea, coffee and 
sugar, raises the price ^o the consumer, because it offers no 
inducement, and cannot, b}' reason of soil and climate, for 
their home production. Sugar is partly an exception, a.'^ 
we can raise some sugar-cane. It may become wholly an. 
exception if the experiment with beets prove a success. A." 
to trading in manufactured articles, aitic'.e? of art and handi- 
craft, the application of the doctrine of natural right a.s 
claimed by free-traders, is suicidal to the younger or weake,* 
nation. No nation recognizes it except in theory. Nations 
are not natural, one to the other, as to trade, except in the 
respect that they are selfish. They all claim the natural 
right to exist, to grow, to develop, to be independent. The 
natural right to be what nature intends is higher than anv 
other. Nature never intended that one nation with numer 
ous, large, long and swift streams, equal to billions of horse^ 
power, should buy for all time the manufactures of nation.9 
with fewer, smaller, shorter and duller streams, equal to only 
millions of horse-power, even though the latter nations had 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTRCTION. 135 

by reason of age, so far turned their power to account as to 
be able to furnish products cheaper than the former. 

Nature never intended that one nation with a riches of 
coal and ores far exceeding that of another, should perpetu- 
ally buy the manufactures of that other, because it had 
delved in its mines for ages, and could offer products cheaper 
than the first. 

Nature never intended that a new nation with infinite 
resources of climate, soil, mine, genius and industry should 
subordinate its traffic to nations of inferior resources, but witli 
the temporary advantage of age. 

Nature never intended that nations that had grown old, 
ripe and rich by means of a protection, which was absolute 
in comparison with any that prevails to-day, should claim 
naturalness for a trade established by agencies they deny 
to others. 

Nature never intended that conditions of labor under 
which a laborer can be an earner, saver, head of a family, 
house owner, voter and public-spirited citizen, should be 
subjugated to conditions of labor which give caste to occupa- 
tion, demean calling, yield bare subsistence, crush manhood, 
stifle ambition, beget slavish routine, reduce to tread-mill task. 

Nature never intended that the genius and capital of one 
nation with opportunity should forever obey the commands 
of another, with less opportunity, but whose opportunity had 
the advantage of age. 

But nature did intend that each nation should profit by its 
gifts. If young and undeveloped, it should employ the arts 
of development that are commensurate with its gifts. If 
weak, it should cultivate strength. If dependent, it should 
learn independence. The art of doing this is its own affair. 
The art should be rational, based on what it knows of itself — 
its people, geography, topography, climate,soil, ores, streamSj 



1^6 PRINCIPIvES OF PROTECTION. 

woods, facilities and resources in general. If, in obedience 
to books and theories, it is wrong in doing this, no other 
nation is so white as to call it black. The consensus of na- 
tions in this respect is nature. The precise form of protec- 
tion and development is immaterial. English free-trade is 
the highest, severest, most arbitrary form of protection of 
which she is capable. It is no more condemnatory of the 
American idea than was her duty of ;^250 on every ;^500 
worth of iron, not otherwise enumerated, she imported from 
her colonies. It is no more acceptable to the American 
idea than was her stamped paper and tea-tax which brought 
on the Revolution. 

The highest duty of a nation is to cultivate nature, for 
nature means its people, institutions and resources. In this 
respect America means far more than professors dream of, 
far more than books teach, far more than little, narrow men 
with sectional or foreign predilections prate of, far more than 
England, all Europe, or all the world can in their selfishness 
impress us with. As a nation we have escaped the thraldom 
of monarchies, the shackles of caste, the hindrances of 
mediaeval institutions, the limitations of soil, climate and 
natural resource incident to a continent which last emerged 
from polar ice. As to people we are composite. Where 
and when the mentality and physique of civilization blend 
for the production of a type, that type will be what nature 
calls for, the survival of size, shape and qualities, fitted for, 
or rather shaped by, an environment such as has not hitherto 
existed. As to institution, we have inverted the pyramid of 
monarchy whose tip is on the throne and base in the air. 
Here the base is below, on the people, and the tip is in the 
air, a sublimation of popular will and not a matter of family 
or blood. As to areas and climate we blend orient and 
Occident, tropic and arctic. It is Italy and Russia, London 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. I37 

and Constantinople. As to soil, mineral, wood and stream, 
the resource is varied and infinite. The alluvium between 
the Alleghenies and Rockies has no counterpart in the 
world. Not Ural, Alp or Apennine are richer in ores than 
our home ranges. No forests of Europe or Asia compare with 
our pine fastnesses. No streams run larger, fresher, swifter, 
more constant and frequent. It is the place for new men, 
genius, institution, development. The law, doctrine or cus- 
tom, ripened by wholly different conditions, and sanctioned 
by antiquity, is not for us. We are a nation— an escape from 
antique environment. To be true we must be original. 
This is especially so as to economics. 

The facts upon which Smith and Mill built free-trade 
theories are useless in America. Home facts, embracing 
periods of test, are the only true bases for home deductions. 
It is our right and duty to build on them and to evolve for 
ourselves the political economy which they warrant, regard- 
less of the conclusions reached and the laws adopted by 
other nations. These facts and this use of them have evolved 
the common law of protection in this country, have con- 
firmed a principle, have established a system — the system 
of American Protection. 

When free-trade makes the claim that home competition 
cannot cheapen certain classes of home manufactures, pro- 
tection answers that in such cases cheapness equal to that 
of a foreign product is undesirable ; that there ought to be 
sufficient patriotic pride among us to pay more for such 
articles when home-made than when foreign-made, their 
quality and utility being the same ; that we will be more 
than repaid for the difference in price by the encouragement 
extended to a home industry and by the establishment of a 
home market ; that every cent spent at home is a contribu- 
tion to the comfort of surroundings, the happiness of 



138 PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

neighbors, the erection of homes, the welfare of labor, the 
founding of a home market for the wool, wheat, corn, butter, 
cheese, eggs and vegetables of the farmers, for which there 
otherwise could be no possible demand ; or if so, the demand 
would be of so foreign a nature as to eat up profit by the 
cost of transportation, by commissions, and by perishability. 

All free-traders make much of the argument that protec- 
tion tends to over-production and consequently to periods 
of depression and panic. The protectionists answer, first, 
that this is a confession that protection does stimulate pro- 
duction. Secondly, they deny in toto that protection tends 
any more to over-production and to periods of depression 
and panic, than free-trade. England is as much subject to 
periodic visitations of glut and depression as any protected 
country. The glut and depression in the iron trade of 1884 
extended to every iron-producing country, and England 
suffered most of all. 

In this connection protection points confidently to its 
history in this country, and relies upon the unshakable 
argument it furnishes. 

The absolutely free-trade era between 1783 and 1789 was 
characterized by a glut of foreign products, suspension of 
industries, bankruptcy of manufacturers and merchants, 
ruinous depreciation of prices, beggary of artisans and 
laborers, starvation of farmers. Says a writer of the period : 
" We are poor with a profusion of material wealth in our 
possession. That we are poor needs no other proof than 
our prisons, bankruptcies, judgments, executions, auctions, 
mortgages, etc., and the shameless quantity of business in 
our courts of law." 

This condition passed away with the enactment of the 
tariff Act of 1789. It was a modest provision, but sufficient 
to enunciate the principle of protection for new industries, 



PRINCIPLES OP PROTECTION. 139 

and to change the industrial and commercial situation. By 
1808 the country had rscovered from the evil effects of the 
free trade era. Then set in the restrictive measures pre- 
liminary to the war of 1812, as the Embargo Act of 1807 and 
the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809. Duties were doubled by 
the Act of 1812 with a view to secure revenue. These 
restrictive measures, followed by actual hostilities, proved 
to be an absolutely prohibitive tariff Immediately every 
branch of domestic industry felt the stimulus. Establish- 
ments for the manufacture of cottons, woolens, iron, glass, 
pottery, etc., sprang up like magic. This instant and mar- 
vellous result was due to extreme protection, and it really 
formed the basis for that strong, persistent and intelligent 
movement which had for its view legislative limitation on 
foreign competition, and logical protection, as found in Henry 
Clay's American System. 

This view found expression in the tariff act of 1816, which 
increased duties considerably, but most unfortunately for 
only a limited period. The 25 per cent, on cottons and 
woolens was to fall to 20 per cent, by 18 19. What was 
barely protective became non-protective in three years. 
Limitation was to undo the affirmative work of the act. 
Though all that grew out of the ground remained high in 
price for a time, owing to shortages in Europe, manufactured 
goods declined. The long pent-up stream of English mer- 
cb.andise flooded the country after the close of the Napo- 
leonic wars, and our manufacturers were forced to the wall. 
Panic set in, and with it depression, bankruptcy and all the 
evils of foreign inundation. The products of the soil found 
the level of devastation, and soon every interest was en- 
gulfed in the sad wave of commercial blight. 

The lesson of this crisis was not lost to our statesmen 
and economists. That strong protective movement set in' 



I40 PRINCIPIvES OF PROTECTION. 

which was to concern so intimately the next generation. 
England had grown restrictive, as evidenced by the passage 
of her corn laws. Cotton and all our farm products were 
ruinously cheap. The time was most favorable for the pro- 
tection and growth of home manufactures and for the estab- 
lishment of home markets. Home markets had not until 
this date been a leading argument for protection, but from 
this time on the argument grew in strength. The relief 
tariff of 1818 merely did away with the limitations of the 
Act of 1 8 16, and extended the duties of the latter act till 
1826. 

After 18 19, that is, in 1820, the protectionists made a 
vigorous effort to enact a really protective act. They failed 
by a single vote in the Senate. They succeeded in 1824, 
with a modifiedly protective act, which became more con- 
firmedly protective in the act of 1828. This protective 
trend was most advantageous. Recovery from the effect 
of the panic of 18 19 was perfect. Manufactures again 
sprang up. Labor got employment and reward. The 
farmer rejoiced at his plow. Prosperity and satisfaction 
reigned. The seven years after 1824 are counted as the 
most prosperous they had ever known. 

Free-trade now came to mean the perpetuation of slavery, 
tiie nullification of law, secession. It threw itself on the 
very legislation it had encouraged, and with such ferocity 
as to compel the compromise tariff of 1833, in which the 
principle of protection was abandoned. Then the history 
of 1 8 19 began to repeat itself Depression set in. Values 
fell. Manufactures ceased. Merchants went into bank- 
ruptcy. Farmers became impoverished. Labor begged for 
bread. The horrors of 18 19 were more than repeated in the 
final crash of 1837, when cows sold for ;^i.oo a head and 
hogs for 25 cents. TJie panic of 1837 cost the country 



JPRINCTPLRS OF rROTRCTION. 141 

;^ 1 ,000,000,000. To add to the terrible situation, the sliding 
scale of reduction of tariff rates brought duties so low by 
1837 ^^^'^^ t^^^ Government ran short of revenue, and the 
national credit fell so low that money could not be bor- 
rowed for necessary expenses except at enormous discount. 

The reaction caused by this disastrous epoch swept the 
free-traders from power and the protectionists enacted the 
protective tariff of 1842, over the veto of President Tyler. 
Financial skies began to clear. The sun of prosperity broke 
forth. Spindles began to hum and labor to smile. The 
farmer held his plow with confidence. Customs' revenues 
leaped to seventy per cent, more than during the last year 
of the compromise Act of 1833. Prices rose, and every in- 
dustry was inspired with new life. 

But in 1844 free-trade, more wedded than ever to unpaid 
labor, and shivering at the importance of paid labor and 
protected industry, rallied under the banner of " Polk, Dal- 
las and the Tariff of '42." How much it believed in the 
"Tariff of '42 " was shown by the enactment of the Tariff 
of 1846, by the casting vote of Dallas in the Senate. This 
was a free-trade tariff, and its results were foreshadowed by 
its opponents. Happily there arose a series of circum- 
stances which operated very much like the restrictive meas- 
ures that followed the Act of 1808. They were all protective 
and sufficiently so to postpone the evil effects of the Act of 
1846 for a time. They were the Mexican war, the discovery 
of gold in California, the Irish famine, and wars in Europe. 
Rut even by 1852 the decrease in the value of our exports 
of bread-stuffs and provisions had fallen off ^47,000,000, and 
the supposed incentive of a low tariff and increased importa- 
tions from abroad was not being realized. 

Another reduction of duties took place in 1857. Finan- 
cial revolution set in, appalling in its widespread severity 



142 PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

and distress. The crisis of 1857 not only impoverished the 
people, but the public revenues became so small that the 
Government was compelled to borrow money at from 8 to 
12 per cent, discount in order to provide running expenses. 
Said President Buchanan in his annual message : " With un- 
surpassed plenty in all the elements of national wealth, our 
manufactures have suspended ; our public works are re- 
tarded ; our private enterprises of different kinds are aban- 
doned and thousands of useful laborers are thrown out of 
employment and reduced to want." 

Since the passage of the Morrill Tariff Act of 1861, the 
doctrine of protection has found constant application. The 
Act of 1883 effected the largest change in that of 1 861, by 
reducing duties and enlarging the free list, but it was crude 
in many of its provisions. The Act of 1890, known as the 
McKinley Act, still further enlarged the free list, addressed 
the principle of protection more directly to American labor, 
and introduced the policy of reciprocity. Protectionists 
claim for this period, 1861 to the present, the establishment 
and enjoyment of an industrial system which has assumed 
a larger national growth, a more rapid accumulation and 
broader distribution of wealth than ever before known in the 
history of our country. During that period there has been 
but one panic, that of 1873, and that differed from those of 
1 8 19, 1837, ^^^^ ^^57, in not being confined to this country, 
but in havmg an origin in general disturbance of credit 
abroad, the effect of which was to throw back upon us sud- 
denly an inordinate number of our bonds. This caused 
sudden drain and great hardship for a time. The condition 
was almost repeated in 1890, when the failure of the Baring 
Brothers, and general disturbance in European credit, shook 
our commercial centres and tested our ability to withstand 
panic. In 1873 o^r mills did not stop running as in other 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 143 

panics. Banks did not break by wholesale. Internal com- 
merce was not interrupted. Every recuperative agency 
had play. We sold more than we bought, and reduced our 
national debt. Protectionists aver that the panic of 1873 
was a blessing in disguise. 

The eminent protectionist, Henry C. Carey, thus concludes 
his historic argument : — 

"We have had Protection in 1789, 1812, 1824, 1828, 1842, 
and from 1861 to 1894. 

We have had Free-Trade, or very low tariff, in 1783, 18 16, 
1832, 1846, 1857, 1894. 

Now note the unvarying results : 

Under protection we have had : I Under Free-Trade we have had : 

1. Great demand for labor. i. Labor everywhere seeking em- 

' ployment. 

2. Wages high and money cheap. il 2. Wages low and money high 

3. Public and private revenues large. 



4. Immigration great and steadily in- 

creasing. 

5. Public and private /rojr/fn/>' great 

beyond all previous precedent. 

6. Growing national independence. 



3. Public and private revenues small 
and steadily decreasing. 

4. Immigration declining. 

5. Public and private bankruptcy 

nearly universal. 

6. Growing national dependence. 



The argument that protection injures the farmer has 
always been a favorite one with free-traders. It has steadily 
grown in favor, and has been given a decided turn in the 
Fifty-second Congress by the attempt to remove the duty 
from wool, binding twine and tin plate. The argument of 
the protectionist is that manufactured articles, and especially 
those which concern the farmer, are on an average 25 per 
cent, cheaper to-day than in i860, when 80 per cent, of them 
were made abroad. That now 80 per cent, of them are made 
at home. That the farmer has been saved the cost of ocean 
transportation on this 80 per cent., and has had the benefit 
A the home market their manufacture has created for his 



144 PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

produce. That such market is certain, at his door, and 
already takes 8o per cent, of his wheat and 92 per cent, of 
his corn. That it keeps even pace with the growth of manu- 
factures and will ere long take all his surplus, at a better 
rate than he can get for it abroad and in competition with 
the cheap wheat of India and Australia. 

In addition to the above argument, protectionists show 
that our free list now embraces nearly half of our importa- 
tions ; that said list comprises all the articles which affect 
the comfort of the farmer or poor man, such as sugar, fruit, 
rice, breeding animals, tea, coffee, etc, ; and that the dutiable 
list embraces high priced articles and articles of luxury, 
such as wines, liquors, cigars, silks, satins, glassware, dia- 
monds, linens, cottons, etc., the duties on which are paid 
mostly by the wealthy. 

The free-trader argues that " free raw material used in 
the manufactures " is especially worthy of a place on the 
free list. Among these he classes wool, flax, hemp, seeds, 
iron ore, pig iron, coal, marble, etc. The protectionist 
claims that the free-list, as enlarged under the Act of 1890, 
embraces a sufficient number of these articles ; that those, 
like wool, which pay duty, come into competition with the 
products of our farmers and laborers in shops, mines and 
furnaces ; that labor is a prime object of protection ; that all 
the articles, technically classed as " raw material," are not 
such to the farmer, laborer, miner and furnace man, because 
they represent the labor, skill and even capital of the latter, 
as much as cloth represents the skill and capital of the manu- 
facturer, or the coat those of the tailor. 

Protection repudiates the doctrine that it is a device for 
the benefit of the privileged classes. It rests on the principle 
that it operates for the general development of the resources 
and the encouragement of the industries of the country. If 




Hon. Joseph K Hawley. 

Born in Richmond co., N. C, October 31st, 1826; educated at 
Hamilton College, N. Y. ; admitted to bar in Hartford, Conn., 1850 ; 
editor of Hartford Evening Press and Courant from 1857 to present ; 
enlisted in army April 15, 1861 ; mustered out as Brevet Major-General 
January 15, 1866; elected Governor of State, as a Republican, April, 
1866; Delegate to Republican National Conventions, 1872-76-80; 
President of Centennial Exhibition ; elected to 42d Congress, November, 
1872 ; re-elected to 43d and 46th Congresses ; elected to U. S. Senate, 
as a Republican, March 4,1881 ; re-elected in 1887, and again in 1893; 
Chairman of Committee on Military Affairs, and member of Committees 
on Coast Defences, Pensions, Nicaragua Canal, etc. 




Born at Portland, Maine, October 18, 1839 ; graduated at Bowdoin, 
1860 ; studied law and admitted to bar ; Assistant Paymaster in Navy, 
1864-65 ; member of State House of Representatives, 1868-69, and of 
Senate, 1870; Attorney General of Maine, 1870-72; Solicitor of Port- 
land, 1874-77 ; elected, as a Republican, to 45th, 46th, 47th, 48th, 49th, 
50th, 51st, 52d, 53d and 54th Congresses ; elected and presided as 
Speaker of House in 51st Congress ; an able and efficient parliamen- 
tarian ; his decision as to actual presence and constructive absence in 
counting a quorum was sustained by the U. S. Supreme Court ; a writer 
and speaker of originality and force ; elected Speaker of House in 
54th Congress ; prominent candidate for Presidential nominee in 1896. 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTKCTION. 147 

classes or capital are emboldened by it to undertake new 
ventures or to enter channels they would not otherwise do, 
that is a matter which does not affect the prime object of 
protection and cannot be controlled by legislation. It was 
not England's tariff system, but her free-trade system, which 
tended most to sustain her landed aristocracy. Out of the 
ten richest men in the United States, nine have accumulated 
fortunes in speculative and commercial pursuits, other than 
manufacturing, and one in manufactures that had to deal 
with protected articles. 

So as to trusts. Protectionists say the facts do not support 
the theory that protection leads to trusts. The worst trust- 
ridden countries are free-trade countries. Trusts in America 
arc quite frequently the result of English genius and capital. 
The Standard oil, Chicago gas, Street railway. Electric 
lighting, Cotton seed oil, Sugar deal, Reading deal, Rich- 
mond terminal, and others, which rank as trusts or combina- 
tions, exist in spite of the doctrine of protection and in no 
way concern it. It is by no means certain that these com- 
binations are harmful to the public at large. For everyone 
that finds an existence by reason of dealing in protected 
articles, ten can be found that would exist, tariff or no 
tariff. 

Protection has made the manufacturer content with a 
reasonable profit. An annual profit of ten per cent, is 
barely possible in this country in the best-established man- 
ufactories. Said Mr. Bright in the English Parliament, in 
1842: "America, as an independent country, has been a 
more valuable customer to England than she could possibly 
have been as a colony. On all the goods exported to 
America during the last quarter of a century you have 
made a net profit of forty per cent." Prices of home man- 
ufactures can therefore be trusted to home competition, but 



148 PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

foreign prices cannot be trusted at all, unless they are forced 
to meet our home competition. This was particularly 
glaring when England was charging ^150 for a ton of steel 
rails which afterwards, and in the face of our home compe- 
tition, she was glad to get ;^40 for. The removal of duty 
from tea and coffee in 1872 caused a rise in their price. There 
was a reason for the rise in coffee, because Brazil imme- 
diately levied an export tax on it. But neither tea nor cof- 
fee have been so cheap since 1872 as before, when tea paid 
fifteen cents and coffee two cents a pound duty. They avoid 
home competition entirely. 

The protectionist supports his doctrine by calling in as a 
witness the material growth of the country since 1861, and 
comparing it with that of countries wedded to free-trade. 
He confidently asks judgment on the practical workings of 
his policy, and claims for the results a fulfillment of the 
prophecies of Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, 
Jackson, Bsnton, Clay, Webster and even Calhoun, who in 
1 8 16 made his famous appeal in favor of the protection and 
importance of manufactures to the " national strength and 
perfection of our institutions," and in "binding more closely 
our widespread republic." 

During thirty years of protection, and notwithstanding 
tlie wastage of four years of war, our population has grown 
at the rate of one million annually — a greater rate than 
that of England, France, Germany and Austria combined. 
Our wealth has grown from ^17,000,000,000 to nearly $50,-- 
000,000,000, or at the rate of ^ i ,000,000,000 a year. Tliere 
has gone into our savings 1^885,000,000 }'early, or almost 
half as much as the savings of the entire world. The man- 
ufictories, mines and forests of Great Britain produced $4,- 
500,000,000 in 1886, an increase of 30 per cent, since 1850. 
The same products in the United States in 1880 were valued 



TRINCIPLES OF PROTFXTION . H9 

at ;^ 5, 5 00,000,000, an increase of 160 per cent, since i860. 
Since i860 our farms have more than doubled in number 
and increased in value from ;$6,ooo,ooo,ooo to ^10,000,000,- 
000, while their products, which were ^ 1 ,8oo,000,OOG in 
i860, were ^3,800,000,000 in 1880. 

In 1880 the entire products of Great Britain — farms, fac- 
tories, mines, forests and all— were ;$6, 200,000,000, or g 172 
per capita. Of this product she exported ;^ 1,300,000,000. 
In the same year the total products of the United States 
were $10,000,000,000, or $200 per capita. Of this product 
$9,176,000,000 were consumed at home. Thus our home 
market consumed more than Great Britain consumed and 
exported, and more than double the combined exports of 
Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, Holland and Aus- 
tria. Besides this consumption of home products, we im- 
ported ;$700,000,000 as against $335,000,000 in i860, and 
exported $750,000,000 as against $373,000,000 in i860. 

Protectionists do not claim that the system of protection 
is, or ever has been, perfect. It is not possible to make it 
so. But it has proved in practice that the arguments of its 
opponents are unsound. It has established itself as an es- 
sential part of our commercial and business habit and thought, 
and is open to the same equities, and laws of progress and 
adjustment, as any essential feature of industrial welfare. 
Its destruction, however, cannot be tolerated. Attack on 
it must be resented. It is not a system which can be trusted 
to its enemies for safe-keeping, or modification. Its friends 
are its natural custodians, and they alone are capable of 
perpetuating it in the forms best calculated to make it repeat 
its past triumphs for labor, capital and the general welfore, 
and to fit it for the legitimate requirements of a still more 
growthy and imposing future. 

In 1890, under what was known as the McKinley Tar- 



150 PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

iff, the principle of protection was applied with a better 
understanding of its merits than under any former Act. 
The application was not indiscriminate, but with a view to 
protecting by duties the labor that entered into what we 
could make or produce at home, and of relieving from 
duties what we could not make or produce at home. The 
Act had an existence of only four years, but protectionists 
found in its operations the strongest historic argument in 
favor of their doctrine that time had up to that date 
produced. 

They found that at the end of the protective era of 
1861-1894 the county had reached its highest degree of 
prosperity, with a general diffusion of the comforts of life 
never before enjoyed by its people. The national treasury 
was in excellent condition, the country's credit above par, 
manufacturing, mining, farming and all industries were 
prosperous, labor was in demand and well paid, commerce 
was active. Hence they naturally pointed with pride to 
that vindication of their doctrine found in the statistics at 
comnumd, for they had seen the total wealth of the coun- 
try according to the census, rise from $16,159,616,000 in 
1860 to 162,610,100,000 in 1890. Railroads had increased 
in tlie same time from 30,626 miles in length to 167,471 
miles. 

As to manufactures they pointed to the following 
census figures: 



Capital iu mauufoctures, 


1880, - 


$1,233,000,000 


1' 1 ( 


1890, - 


12,950,735,000 


Employees iu 1880, 


- 


1,301,000 


" " 1890, 


- 


2,251,000 


Wages earned in 1880, 


- 


$501,965,000 


" " 1890, 


- 


$1,221,000,000 


alue of products 1880, 


- 


$2,712,000,000 


1890, 


- 


$4,860,000,000 



PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 151 

More ractories were started in 1892 than in any pre- 
ceding year, and in the same year the foreign trade 
increased .|1£8,000,000 over that of 1891, or 1400,000,000 
over the average for the preceding ten years. Coastwise 
trade showed a proportionate increased. 

No, of depositors in saving funds I860, - - $ 693,370 

" " " 1890, - - 4,258,893 

Deposits in saving funds 1860, - - - 149,277,000 

1890, - - - 1,524,844,000 

Rate of wages touched the highest point in time of 
peace, 

Valueof farm products I860, - • 11,364,000,000 

1891, - - 4,500,000,000 

The national debt decreased 8245,000,000 from 1891 to 
1893. Tlie national income was more than enough to 
meet tlie annual expenditures. 

The principal of protection was practically eliminated 
from our economic system by the passing of the Wilson 
Tariff of 1894. Pending its passage, and after the coun- 
try passed through the throes of a depression which, at 
times, could hardly be distinguished from panic, so great 
was the change, or threatened change, in its economic 
polic3^ Protectionists found another powerful argument 
— the niQft powerful of any. that had ever come to their 
support — in the condition of industrial financial and com- 
mercial affairs that set in in 1893 and lasted till 1897. 
They saw the manufactories of the country closed by the 
thousand, and innumerable hands thrown out of employ- 
ment. Tliey saw business of every kind pass into bank- 
ruptcy, credits ruined, commerce curtailed, products with- 



15^ PRINCIPLES OF PROTECTION. 

out adequate price. lu three years the treasury receipts 
fell off $80,000,000, and the principal of the public debt 
was increased by borrowing -^5262, 000,000. In 1892, the 
average price of twenty different stocks was 75.68 per 
cent.; in a short time they fell to 49.10 per cent., a loss of 
26.58 per cent. Exports declined rapidly, while imports 
increased greatly, those of woolens alone showing an in- 
crease of nearly 350 per cent, in 1894-95. Owing to re- 
moval of duty from wool, sheep decreased in number from 
47,273,553 in 1893, to 33,298,783 in 1896, and the value 
decreased from 8125,909,264 to $65,167,735, or nearly 50 
per cent, in the same time. 

Each year of the Cleveland administration showed a 
large treasury deficit, that of the first being $72,000,000, 
of the second, $62,000,000 and of the third $30,000,000. 
The per capita circulation fell off from $24.44 in 1892 to 
$21.35 in 1896. The best financiers estimated the coun- 
try's losses between 1893 and ]896 at a greater total than 
the cost of the Civil war, and the question was trium- 
phantly asked by protectionists whether it was nut 
entirely too much to pay for a trial of free trade theory. 

They educed further figures: 

luterest bearing debt March 1, 1893, - IS^^S.OOOjOOO 

" " " 1896, - 845,000,000 

Value of railroads 1893, - - - $1,000,000,000 

Depreciation in three years - - - 250,000,000 

1 

Loss in value of farm animals in 1895, $91,000,000. De- 
cline in value of farm produce in 1895, $133,603,073. 
Total decline in value of farm animals from 1892 to 1896, 
$733,829,574. Total decline in value of faim crops from 
1892 to 1896, $750,000,000. 



PRINCIPLES OP PROTECTION. 153 

And so throughout every cloniain of industry and en- 
terprise figures were educed wliich rendered the contrast 
between the free trade, or reform, and protection eras per- 
fectly appalling ; with the inevitable result that protec- 
tionists fell that their doctrines had been more fully 
vindicated by an experiment with the opposing doctrines 
of free trade, than by any arguments they had hitherto 
used. The lesson was an objective one, and so highly 
concentrated as to time, so immediate in its application, 
and so drastic in its effects, as to jDrove of lasting and in- 
valuable benefit to economic science. 



SILVER AND GOLD— AN HISTORIC REVIEW. 

The use of metal as a medium of exchange and a measure 
of value has an old and interesting history. The province 
of money has ever been a conspicuous theme in political 
economy. Lately in our country all discussion of money 
has been given a new turn, and been rendered momentous 
and exciting by the fact that political parties have chosen to 
divide upon questions of coinage, quantities, kinds and values 
of our metallic circulating medium, and seek to make them 
issues in their campaigns. 

This has given to what is popularly known as " The Sil- 
ver Question," or "The Free Coinage Question," a promi- 
nence it never had before. It is within the bounds of truth 
to say that the " Silver Question " quite overshadowed the 
" Tariff Question " in the Fifty-second Congress, and bids 
fair to divide honors with that question for a considerable 
time. Next to, and perhaps equal with, the doctrines of 
Free-Trade and Protection, it concerns the business inter- 
ests, the life and work, the labor and property, of every man 
in the country, from the humblest toiler to the largest capi- 
talist. No man who works for daily bread, no man who 
has a dollar saved, no man who has a house or farm, no 
man who has his capital in factories, stocks, mortgages, or 
other securities, ought to be ignorant of a question which 
so intimately concerns his welfare. It is, perhaps, a matter 
of regret that a question so purely economic should fall into 
political channels, but such is the fate of all these great 
questions under our free system of government, and our 
154 



SILVER AND GOLD. 155 

people are seemingly better satisfied with results obtained in 
tiieir own popular way, than through the media of learned 
theories and abstruse teachings. In as much they prefer to 
use their own judgments and to abide by their own verdicts, 
the obligation is imposed on them of informing themselves 
as far as possible respecting the merits of this question, and 
all questions that similarly affect them. 

WHAT IS MONEY ? 

Says Laveleye : " Money is the substance or substances 
which custom or the law causes to be employed as the 
means of payment, the instrument of exchange and the com- 
mon measure of values." 

The difficulty of bartering wares against wares brought 
mto use an intermediate means of effecting the exchange. 
This means was money, which became an agent of circula- 
tion and a vehicle of exchange — the cart for transferring 
property in an object from one person to another, just as the 
actual cart transferred the object itself 

Again, money came to be the universal equivalent. 
When one sells a bushel of wheat for a dollar, the dollar is 
the equivalent of the wheat. One can, in turn, make the 
dollar the equivalent of other goods, which he needs more 
than the wheat or the dollar. Says Adam Smith : "A piece 
of gold may be considered as an agreement for a certain 
quantity of goods payable by the tradesmen of the neigh- 
borhood." 

Still further, money is a common measure or standard of 
values. Some one has called it "The yardstick of com- 
merce." Length, weight, value, need to be compared Avith 
something, in order to subdivide them and turn their parts 
to use. Hence, a foot is made a standard of long measure, 
and when we say a stick is twelve feet long, we know ex- 



156 SILVER AND GOLD. 

actly how long it is, and all men will know. This is nuicii 
more definite and satisfactory than to say, the stick is as lon^^ 
as twenty hand-breadths, for some hands are larger than 
others, and the stick would be longer or shorter, according 
to each measurer. So, if we say a barrel of flour weighs as 
much as two pigs, we get but a vague and varying idea of 
its weight, for pigs differ in size and weight. But when we 
set up the pound as a standard of weight, and say that a 
barrel of flour weighs 196 pounds, all men will have a com- 
mon idea of its weight. It is the same with value. The 
value of a horse may be equal to five cows, but as cows have 
one price to-day and another to-morrow, you have selected 
a very uncertain means of finding the value of a horse. By 
the use of money as a common valuer, as in the foot or the 
pound, you get a definite idea of the value of a horse. 
When you say it is worth one hundred dollars, or a hundred 
times one dollar — the dollar being the standard or measurer 
of value — all men fall to the idea, know what a horse is 
worth. 

The foot standard is exactly ascertained and rigidly fixed. 
The pound standard is also accurately ascertained and rig- 
idly fixed. In attempting to fix a standard for measuring 
values, great difficulty is encountered, for, unfortunately, the 
substances used for measuring the values of articles of com- 
merce are themselves merchandise, and subject to variation 
in value like all goods. The best that can be done, there- 
fore, as to values, is to select as true and invariable a standard 
of measurement as possible, to watch it closely, and to cor- 
rect from time to time the expansions and contractions oc- 
casioned by commercial heat and cold. 

KINDS OF MONEY. 

The Siberians used furs as money. The Spartans used 



Silver and gold. 157 

iron. The African uses cloth, salt and cowrie-shells. Cat- 
tle held the largest place as money among the ancients and 
many of our financial and commercial words are derived 
from old words indicating the early prominence of the flock 
and herd. The arms of Diomede were valued at nine oxen ; 
those of Glaucus at one hundred oxen. The Franks levied 
a tribute of oxen on the conquered Saxons. Our word 
" pecuniary " is the Latin pcciis, " cattle." Our " fee " is the 
Saxon /d'^/^, cattle. 

Metal money was first employed as representing value in 
cattle. The ox or sheep became its emblem and was 
stamped on the metal. 

As civilization progressed and exchanges became more 
frequent, gold and silver took the place of all cruder metals 
and devices, as money. 

This was because time and experience had proved their 
superiority as measurers of value and media of exchange. 

They do not deteriorate by keeping. 

Their production is limited by scarcity of their ores. This 
gives great value in proportion to weight, and facilitates 
handling, transport and hoarding. 

The annual losses of the precious metals by wear and tear 
and by absorption in the arts have so nearly equalled the 
annual production, as that the excess of production has sel- 
dom exceeded the ratio of increase in population and the 
growing demand for money. Thus the demand and supply 
being nearly equal, the value of gold and silver remains very 
stable, as compared with other metals, or other measures of 
value. 

The accumulated stock of the precious metals, estimated 
in money and ornaments at ;^ 10,000,000,000 in the world, 
tends to lessen variations in value that might be occasioned 
by diminution or failure of the annual supply. 



158 SILVER AND GOLD. 

All civilized nations seek and accept gold and silver as a 
means of facilitating- exchangee. 

Gold and silver are easily divisible into parts and propor- 
tions of given weights and values. 

They receive with ease and permanently the impression 
which distinguishes their weight, size, design and value. 

They are readily distinguishable from other metals ; gold 
by its weight, silver by its sound. 

THE VALUE OF MONEY. 

The purchasing power of money ascertains its value. The 
pure silver which would have bought eight bushels of wheat 
during the Middle Ages, would bring only two bushels, 
after the discovery of America. Therefore, it was said of 
silver, that it had declined to one-fourth of its previous 
value. 

Supply of an article usually affects its value, but a supply 
of money involves the quantity in existence and the rapidity 
of its circulation. A dollar that makes three exchanges a 
day is worth three dollars that make one exchange a day. 

If the demand for money is less than the supply, its value 
decreases ; only we don't say so, but that prices rise. If the 
demand for money is greater than the supply, its value in- 
creases ; but we say, that prices fall. 

Alterations in the value of money lead to confusion in 
:ommercial, legal and economic relations. A decrease in 
the amount or value of money seriously affects the debtor 
classes. An increase in the amount or value of money in- 
jures the creditor classes. 

MONEY SYSTEMS. 

The gold and silver that enter into money are not pure, 
but mixed with alloy, usually copper, to save the coins from 



SILVER AND GOLD. 159 

wearing. The quantity of alloy generally introduced is 
about one-tenth, that is, one part alloy to nine parts of pure 
metal. 

In England, the unit of money, gold or silver, of which 
the other coins are multiples, is the sovereign or pound ; in 
France, the franc; in Germany, the mark; in Holland, the 
florin ; in the United States, the dollar. The larger coins 
are generally made a legal tender for debts, without limit. 
Smaller fractional or subsidiary coins are generally made a 
legal tender for debts, with a limit as to amount. Still smaller 
coins, cents, nickels, and such as rank as " token money," 
are made legal tender for debts of a still smaller amount. 

Formerly, monarchs, cities, bishops and nobles claimed 
the right to coin money, and they frequently abused their 
right by diminishing the value of the currency, either by re- 
ducing the quantity of pure metal in the coins, or by declar- 
ing them to have a legal value far be}'ond their intrinsic 
value. Solon decreed that the mina should be worth a hun- 
dred drachmas instead of seventy-three. Plutarch says of 
this decree: "In this way, by paying apparently the full 
value, though really less, those who owed. large sums gained 
considerably, without causing any loss to their creditors." 
Says Laveleye, " Plutarch here expresses the error which has 
inspired all issues of depreciated and paper currency. No 
one seems to lose, because payments are made just as well 
with coins reduced in value as with the unreduced. What 
is forgotten is that prices rise in proportion as the unit of 
money loses its value." 

At the present time the right of coinage is, as a rule, re- 
served by the sovereign State, and is jealously guarded. In 
most countries the coining of the standard coin is free. 

In France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium, which coun- 
tries agreed, in 1863, to form the Latin Monetary Union, 



r6o SILVER AND GOLD. 

all gold coins and five-franc pieces are accepted as standard. 
The minor silver coins are a legal tender for only small 
debts, and the mints cannot issue them to a greater extent 
than the value of six francs for each inhabitant. The sys- 
tem of the Latin Union is the double standard orbi-metallic 
system ; that is, it permits the free and unlimited coinage 
of both gold and silver pieces, to each of which it gives legal 
currency, or the right to be accepted in all payments. It 
has, however, been compelled to modify this system to suit 
circumstances. 

Countries whose system is "single standard or mono-me- 
tallic," whether such standard be gold as in some, or silver 
as in others, accord free and unlimited coinage and legal- 
tender quality only to the metal they fix as the standard. 
The mono-metallic system is the simpler, as to relation 
of value between coins of different denominations ; but as 
to relation of value between money and goods, the bi-metal- 
lic system is more sensitive and, consequently, exact. 

In 1558 Thomas Gresham, one of the councillors of 
Queen Elizabeth, demonstrated that the money which has 
the less value will drive from circulation the money which 
has the greater value. This is known in monetary science 
as " Gresham's Law." 

In 17 17 Sir Isaac Newton showed that a means of obvi- 
ating the ill effects of " Gresham's Law " existed, by fixing 
the relation of value between gold and silver the same in 
all countries. In later times attempts have been made to 
do this by means of International Monetary Congresses. 
Attempts to establish a fixed relation of value between gold 
and silver by single countries have not proved satisfactory. 
Economists are by no means agreed as to which metal, gold 
or silver, is preferable as a standard. That the largest 
number of countries, certainly the largest commercial coun- 



SIIvVER AND GOLD. i6r 

tries, adopt gold as the standard metal, implies some pow- 
erful reason for it ; but it by no means disproves the theory 
that gold itself shifts in value like silver and probably quite 
as much. Indeed, not a few aver that much of what ap- 
pears to be a shift in the value of silver is really a shift in 
the value of gold, with which the silver is compared. They 
also say that in the very nature of things silver is a metal 
of more stable value than gold, because its production comes 
from deep mines, with costly machinery, and an annual out- 
put which cannot be increased except at great expense, nor 
lessened without great loss ; whereas the product of gold, 
much of which comes from auriferous sands, may increase 
or diminish very greatly in a short space of time. 

BEGINNING OF AMERICAN COINAGE. 

Inmiediately after the peace of 1783, and while the 
Articles of Confederation constituted our only bonds of 
government, some of the prominent patriots, notably Morris, 
Jefferson and Hamilton, began agitation looking to the 
establishment of an American Mint. Naturally the char- 
acter of the proposed mintage came under discussion. This 
was the " Coinage Question " of that day. It was neither 
political nor bitter as at present, but it was none the less 
earnest, and involved many of the points now under dis- 
cussion. 

Great respect was paid to the views of Morris, who, as 
Superintendent of Finance, was well qualified to speak upon 
the character of the mintage. He reached the conclusion 
that in as much as the relative values of gold and silver 
were continually changing, there could be no ratio estab- 
lished between them which would prove stable and satis- 
factory for purposes of law. Therefore, the only way out 
of the difficulty, as he reasoned, was for the government to 



i62 SILVER AND GOLD. 

adopt silver alone as its metallic money, and proceed to coin 
it. He was a silver mono-metallist. 

On account of Hamilton's mastery of finance, his views 
were equally courted. During the discussions of the sub- 
ject, which preceded the adoption of the Constitution in 
1787, Hamilton made it plain that he was a mono-metallist 
like Morris, but recognizing the greater value of gold, its 
higher place among commercial nations and its lesser lia- 
bility to sudden and extreme fluctuation in price, he pre- 
ferred it to silver as the metallic standard. Pending these 
discussions the Confederation came to an end, and the new 
Constitution appeared (1787) with its provisions as to money 
and coinage : — The Congress shall have power " to coin 
money, regulate the value thereof and fix the standard of 
weights and measures." Art. I. ; Sec. 8. Again, " No 
State shall coin money, emit bills of credit, make anything 
but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts." 
Art. I. ; Sec. 10. 

Here then was recognition of two metals as money, and 
provision for a bi-metallic currency, should such a result be 
deemed wise. The matter of establishing a mint came up 
as one of the earliest and most important under the new 
Constitution. Hamilton made it the subject of a full and 
able report to Congress in 1791. In this report he adhered 
to his views that, in the abstract, a mono-metallic standard 
would be best, but that such standard should be gold in 
preference to silver. However, reasoning on the line of 
expediency, he feared that the adoption of a single standard 
would tend to limit the amount of the circulating medium, 
a result by no means desirable, in the infant and experi- 
mental stage of the Government. Therefore, he concluded 
that a double standard would be best in practice, and as a 
policy sufficiently permanent to warrant the forms of law. 




Hon. Arthur P. Gorman. 

Born in Howard cc, Md., March 11, 1839; appointed Senate page, 
1852, and continued in service till 1866 ; served as Collector of Internal 
Revenue for Fifth Maryland District, 1866-69; elected as Democrat to 
Maryland Legislature, November, 1869. Re-elected 1871, and became 
Speaker of House; elected to Stale Senate, 1875; re-elected in 1879 
elected to United States Senate, 1880; re-elected, 1886 and 1892 
prominent exponent of Democratic thought and recognized leader 
name familiar in connection with the Presidency ; ability as an organ- 
iser o^-»<jeded by all; member of Committees on Appropriations, Com- 
merce, Inter-State Commerce, Printing, Rules, and Corporations Organ- 
ized in D. C. 





Hun. Hk: 



M. 



Born in Allegany co., N. Y., May 23, 1830 , admitted to bar in 
N. Y. -, removed to Illinois, 1858 ; thence to Colorado, 1861 ; on admis- 
sion of Colorado to Statehood, 1876, was elected to U. S. Senate as a 
Republican ; re-elected to U. S. Senate for the term 1876-1882 ; 
appointed Secretary of Interior by President Arthur in 1882, and served 
till March 3, 1885 ; re-elected to Senate in 1885, and again in 1890 . 
Chairman of Committee on Claims; member of Committees on Judici- 
ary, Appropriations, Rules, etc. 



SILVER AND GOLD. 165 

His reasons and conclusions proved to be acceptable to 
the Congress, but there was great diversity of opinion 
respecting the question of the relative value of the two 
metals. What should be the fixed ratio between gold and 
silver ? In fixing such ratio, should the price, or purchas- 
ing power, of gold at home or abroad be taken ? It was 
finally agreed that American values were alone to be con- 
sidered, and that the commercial ratio between gold and 
silver should be as one is to fifteen. One ounce of gold 
was to be taken as worth fifteen times as much as one ounce 
of silver. 

OUR FIRST COINAGE ACT. 

The first Act of Congress relating to coinage was passed 
April 2, 1792, and was entitled "An Act establishing a mint 
and regulating the coins of the United States." This Act 
provided for the coinage of eagles, half-eagles and quarter- 
eagles of gold, and for " dollars or units," half-dollars and 
quarter-dollars, dimes and half-dimes of silver. The coin- 
age of cents and half-cents of copper was also provido'J 
for. The value of each eagle was fixed as "ten dollars or 
units, and to contain 247 grains and four-eighths of a grain 
of pure or 270 grains of standard gold." The half and 
quarter-eagles bore respectively an exact proportion to the 
eagle in value, weight and fineness. 

The dollar, or unit, was thus provided for : — " Dollars or 
units — each to be of the value of a Spanish milled dollar, as 
the same is now current, and to contain 371 grains and 
four-sixteenths of a grain of pure, or 416 grains of standard 
silver." The fractional silver coins contained exactly one- 
half, one-fourth and one-tenth, respectively, of the quantity 
of fine silver and alloy prescribed for the dollar. The ideal 
unit for years prior and subsequent to the establishment of 
tlie Mint was the pound sterling, yet the Spanish dollar, 



i65 SILVER AND GOLD. 

during that early period, was the money of commerce and 
the practical monetary unit, and it was the general custom 
to express in contracts that payment should be made in 
Spanish milled dollars. The advocates of silver attach 
great importance to the expression, " dollars or units," and 
to the fact that the established unit was the silver dollar. 
Upon this is based their claim that the silver dollar is the 
unit of our monetary system, and that the gold coinage is 
based upon that unit. Each eagle is "to be of the value of 
;^io or units," and it is declared that the dollar or unit shall 
be of silver. 

This Act provided for the free and unlimited coinage of 
both gold and silver, and that both coins should be a legal 
tender. Thus Section 14 reads : 

" It shall be lawful for any person or persons to bring to 
the said Mint gold and silver bullion in order to their being 
coined, and that the bullion so brought shall be assayed and 
coined free of expense to the person or persons by whom 
the same shall have been brought." 

Free coinage in this sense does not mean that the mint 
did its work for nothing. It charged one-half per cent, to 
indemnify it for the time expended in assaying and coining 
the bullion. 

Section 16 of the Act contained the legal tender clause, 
making the coins of both metals, even including the frac- 
tional silver coins, a legal tender. 

A gold dollar, or rather a dollar in gold, at the ratio 
fixed in the above Act, would contain 24.75 grains of gold. 
Multiply this by 15 (for there must be fifteen times as much 
silver in a dollar) and you have 371.25 grains, as the quan- 
tity of fine silver for the silver dollar. This ratio was not 
quite that which prevailed at the time in Europe, the ratio 
there being about 15^ to i. Our Coinage Act, therefore, 



SILVER AND GOLD. 167 

put too low a commercial value on gold. It was worth 
more as bullion in the markets of the world than in the 
shape of one of our coins. There was, therefore, little or 
no inducement for any one to take gold bullion or gold 
plate to the mint to get it coined into gold money, for the 
utmost they could get for it would be coin of gold equal to 
fifteen times its weight in silver. In Europe the same 
weight of gold would command fifteen and a half times its 
weight of silver. Not only was there no inducement to sell 
gold to the mint for purpose of coinage, but even what was 
coined followed to a great extent the law of a commercial 
commodity, and was retired as something more worthy to 
hold than the cheaper metal, silver, which measured its 
value in a popular sense, or else it sought, even as gold 
coin, the market abroad, where one part of gold com- 
manded fifteen and a half parts of silver. 

In those early times we were not in a position as a nation 
to impress a commercial value on metals used as coin. The 
law fixed a ratio. The mint impressed the law on the 
coins. After that they followed largely the higher and 
more arbitrary laws of commerce and of nations. They 
were in the markets of the world and subject to their fluctua- 
tions. And this was true, even though we had great need 
for metallic money, as all new countries have where popu- 
lation is sparse, where intercommunication is slow and ir- 
regular, and where credit has not yet learned to lend its 
conveniences to trade. 

In spite of the ratio of 15 to i, established for our bi- 
metallic currency by the Act of 1792, the foreign, or com- 
mercial, ratio forced itself upon us, and for forty-two years, 
that is from 1792 to 1834, the value of silver, as compared 
with gold, fluctuated, often rising nearly to 16 to i, but 
never falling to 15 to i. It is clear, then, that silver was 



1 68 SILVER AND GOLD. 

cheaper than gold, and silver currency than gold currency, 
which fact, as those who oppose the free coinage of silvef 
aver, proved the truth of Gresham's law, mentioned above, 
that where two metals are made a legal tender and given 
free coinage at a fixed ratio of value, the cheaper metal 
will circulate to the exclusion of the dearer. 

To illustrate: A yard is 36 inches, but if a merchant 
finds that if, within law, he can satisfy his customers with a 
yard of 35^:3 inches, he will prefer the shorter standard of 
measure. Sixteen ounces make a pound avoirdupois, but 
if he can, within law, satisfy his customers with fifteen 
ounces, he will do so. An ounce of- gold is worth in the 
markets i^j4 ounces of silver; he will not use the gold, but 
the legal equivalent of the gold, or the iS}4 ounces of sil- 
ver, namely, the 15 ounces which he finds in the shape of 
silver coin, and a legal tender. 

This presumes that the ounce of gold set up as the 
standard of value is fixed, like the yard, as a standard of 
measure and the pound as a standard of weight. Commer- 
cial custom and monetary science incline more and more to 
this presumption, and as a fact gold is made to so largely 
measure the value of silver as well as all other commodi- 
ties, among enlightened nations, as that it performs the 
functions of a yard stick as to lengths or a pound weight as 
to weights. 

But here the advocates of bi-metallism and free coinage 
say that gold is not in itself an unchangeable measure of 
value, as the yard stick is of length and the pound weight 
is of weight. It has its own fluctuations just as silver has, 
though peihaps not to the same extent. It is, therefore, not 
a true measure of value for silver. The Hon. Marcus A. 
Smith, of Arizona, in his recent speech upon " The free 
Coinage of Silver," thus treats of this question of gold 



SILVER AND GOIvD. 169 

measurements and of the principle underlying " Gresham's 
Law : " 

" The inflexible and unchangeable value, which is often 
attributed to gold coin, is simply the arbitrary value of a 
standard only measured by itself This is the value to 
which the quoted words plainly apply. Governments can 
no more give fixed commodities, or comparative value, to 
gold and silver than they can arrest the motion of the stars. 
David Hume, John Locke, Adam Smith, and all the older 
economic writers agree that gold and silver both fluctuate 
in value. 

" Profs. Jevons and Walker, more recent authorities, show 
by comparative tables of statistics that between 1789 and 
1809 gold fell 46 per cent. ; that between 1809 and 1849 it 
arose 145 per cent, and that within twenty years after the 
latter date it fell 20 per cent. It is estimated that during 
the past eighteen years gold has again risen 30 per cent. 
Jevons says that — 

" ' In respect to steadiness of values the metals are prob- 
ably less satisfactory, regarded as a standard of value, than 
many other commodities, such as corn.' 

" The discovery of new mines, the exhaustion of the old 
mines, the arbitrary adoption of the metals by governments 
for money purposes or their demonetization and disuse for 
such purposes, and the greater or less demand for them for 
artistic and mechanical uses, are accidents and circum- 
stances which contribute to fluctuation in their value. Use- 
fulness or utility gives desirability. This desirability leads to 
use, and whether the use be by governments or individuals, 
or both, for money or in the arts, or for both, it creates the 
demand which, in connection with supply, gives exchange 
value. 

" The law, custom, or usage, that rendered the fabled 



ijo SILVER AND GOLD. 

nugget of copper a proper tender by the mummy as a fee 
to Charon, gave it its monetary value for that purpose. It 
was the tribal law, custom, or usage which ordained the use 
of silver as money, that gave to the 400 shekels of silver 
which Abraham tendered to Ephron the Hittite, and 'cur- 
rent money with the merchants,' its monetary value ; it 
was the law, custom, or usage which decreed the use of 
silver as money, that gave to the twenty pieces of silver for 
which Joseph was sold into slavery, and the thirty pieces 
of silver for which the gentle Nazarene was betrayed to his 
death, their monetary value. 

" In each instance, even on the principles of barter, the 
use of silver, for other purposes than money, was a factor, 
contributing to its monetary value, and not by itself creating 
it. Where barter is applied the sum total of usage gives to 
the metals what is termed the monetary value, but what, 
more properly speaking, is only commercial value. Crusoe, 
on his desert isle, sitting among his sacks of gold, is the 
synonym of poverty until he finds the grain of wheat which 
gives promise of food and life. That gold had no commer- 
cial value. The grain of wheat was worth immeasurably 
more than all of it. But let civilized governments, or even 
barbarous tribes find it, and at once its use for the purposes 
of money makes it command a thousand times its weight in 
wheat. 

" So far from the value of given articles ' for other pur- 
poses ' being the sole cause of their monetary value, the 
former is not always even co-existent with and equal to the 
latter. Was it the ' value for other purposes ' of the iron 
in the coins of Sparta, under Lycurgus, that gave to those 
coins their monetary value? Was it the value of the 
leather ' for other purposes ' that gave to the money of Car- 
thage its monetary value? Was it its 'value for other pur- 



SlI/VBR AND GOIvD. ,7, 

poses ' that gave to the money made in China in the thir-r 
teenth century from the bark of the mulberry tree its mon- 
etary value ? Was it its ' value for other purposes ' that 
gave value to the wampum of the American Indians ? Was 
it their ' value for other purposes ' that gave to the glass 
coin of Arabia, the brass coins of Rome, the pasteboard 
bills of Holland, the tenpenny nails of Scotland, the musket- 
balls of Massachusetts, and the cocoa-beans of Mexico, 
their monetary value ? 

" Is it its value for other purposes that gives to the ;^8oo,- 
000,000 of silver coin in France to-day its monetary value ? 
Is it its value for other purposes that gives to our ^400,- 
000,000 of standard silver coin and the millions more of 
subsidiary and minor coin their monetary value? The 
commercial value of the silver in the coin of France is 
^170,000,000 less than its monetary value, and in the United 
States nearly ^100,000,000 less. How obvious, therefore, 
it is that governments not only by the use of the metals as 
money add to their commercial value, but at times confer a 
monetary value beyond and independent of the commercial 
value ? 

" Much is said about one kind of money driving another 
kind out of circulation. The Gresham Law is simply a law 
of displacement. It applies to all articles of commerce as 
well as to money. The self-binder displaces the sickle, and 
the railway train displaces the stage-coach. But the theory 
that the scarcest money is the best money is on par with 
the idea that the smallest crop is the best crop. Gold and 
silver, like other commodities, go where the highest prices 
are offered, whether the offer comes from individuals or 
governments. Monetary value is national ; commercial 
value is cosmopolitan. The single-standard metal, whether 
it be gold or silver, is alternately money and commodity 



Ij2 SILVER AND GOLD. 

instrument and article of commerce. Economic law is in- 
exorable. 

"England adopted the single-standard in 1819, and Ger- 
many, the Latin Union, and minor European states, at a 
later day. Since 1819 the Bank of England has suspended 
specie payment nearly a dozen times, the land-owners of 
England have been reduced from 165,000 to less than 
30,000. Her ;^ 3, 5 00,000,000 national debt is as large as 
at the close of the Napoleonic wars, yet bread riots have 
periodically startled her cities and agitated her statesmen. 
But two years ago, when heavy drafts were made on her 
gold by Russia, her Barings touched the borders of insol- 
vency, and, in spite of all the assistance of the Bank of 
England, plunged several leading New York banks into 
ruin and carried our country to the edge of panic and finan- 
cial disaster. Goschen, the chancellor of the British Ex- 
chequer, announced to Parliament that the perils attending 
the increasing competition for gold made a consideration of 
the return to bi-metallism advisable. 

" The rule or law of Sir Thomas Gresham did not apply 
to gold and silver. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, I think 
it was, the coin in circulation was found to be degraded by 
clipping and general short weight. It was found that as 
long as any clipped or abraded piece of silver would buy 
as much as a full-weight piece of silver, the heavy piece 
was kept out of commerce and used in the arts, and the 
spurious piece did the trade of the realm. The light dis- 
placed the heavy in commerce, or had such tendency, and 
this is all that the Gresham law meant." 

However these things may be in theory, in fact our early 
gold coins, being worth more, when compared with silver, 
than the value which was stamped upon them, began to 
depart either from circulation or' from the country entirely. 



SILVER AND GOLD. i73 

This movement began almost simultaneously with the pas- 
sage of our first Coinage Act. It was very perceptible by 
1810, and continued until 1834. In all that time there were 
less than ;$ 12,000,000 in gold coined, a large per cent, of 
which was lost entirely to the country by export. By 18 14 
the mintage of gold coins had fallen to ^77,000. In 181 5 it 
fell to ;^3,ooo. In 18 16 the coinage of gold amounted to 
nothing. After 18 19 gold disappeared as a circulating me- 
dium in the United States. 

During this time (1792- 18 34) there were only 1,439,417 
silver dollars coined, and none of these were coined after 
1805. The coinage of the silver dollar was in all probabil- 
ity discouraged by the fact that gold was seen to be disap- 
pearing, and with the hope that a scarcity of silver dollars 
might enhance their value. Or, their coinage may have 
ceased by reason of the fact that the foreign silver coins of 
that denomination were ample for trade purposes, the bulk 
of our metallic currency being at that time of foreign make. 
The mint was not, however, idle. It was busy on fractional 
or subsidiary coins. By 1834 it had coined 1^50,000,000 of 
silver half dollars, and a proportion of lesser coins, which, 
with the large per cent, of foreign subsidiary coins, furnished 
an ample minor currency. 

This currency condition was far from satisfactory. Bi- 
metallism was not proving the theories of its authors. The 
question of a change began to be mooted. Some few alter- 
ations were made in the Coinage Act from time to time, but 
the original Act remained in all its essential features up till 
1834. 

By 1 83 1 Hon. Campbell P. White, an authority on such 
matters, had reached the conclusion that a system which 
sought to regulate the standard of value in both gold and 
silver had inherent and incurable defects. He thought it 



»74 



SILVER AND GOLD. 



had been clearly ascertained by experience that it was im- 
possible to maintain both metals in concurrent, simultaneous 
and promiscuous circulation. 

In 1832 a Committee on Coinage reported that it could 
not find " that both metals have ever circulated simulta- 
neously, concurrently and indiscriminately in any country 
where there were banks or money dealers ; and they enter- 
tain the conviction that the nearest approach to an invariable 
standard is its establishment in one metal, which metal shall 
compose exclusively the currency of large payments." 

The time had now come for a substantial change in the 
Coinage Act of 1792. What was chiefly apparent to all in 
1834 was the fact that the ratio between gold and silver, es- 
tablished by that Act, was no longer, if it had ever been, 
correct. It undervalued gold. But there was no general 
departure, so far as the debates show, from the bi-metallic 
idea. Statesmen still preferred to struggle with the intricate 
problem of finding a ratio between gold and silver which 
would prove to be the ratio of comnverce. 

The Director of the Mint, in his report to the Congress 
for the year 1833, said that the " new coined gold frequently 
remains in the mint uncalled for, though ready for delivery, 
until the day arrives for a packet to sail for Europe." And 
he concluded that the entire coinage of gold in the future, 
amounting to perhaps ;^2,ooo,000 annually, would be ex- 
ported, unless there was a reform of the gold standard. 

In his advocacy of a change in the ratio between gold and 
silver, Hon. Thomas H. Benton, in a speech delivered in the 
Senate in 1834, said: "The false valuation put upon gold 
has rendered the mint of the United States, so far as the gold 
coinage is concerned, a most ridiculous and absurd institu- 
tion. It has coined, and that at large expense to the United 
States, 2,262,177 pieces of gold, valued at ^11,852,820, and 



SILVER AND GOIvD. 175 

where are the pieces now ? Not one of them to be seen ! 
AH sold and exported ! To enable the friends of gold to 
go to work at the right place to effect the recovery of that 
precious metal which their fathers once possessed — which 
the subjects of European kings now possess — which the 
citizens of the young Republics of the south all possess — 
which even the free negroes of San Domingo possess — but 
which the yeomanry of this America have been deprived of 
for more than twenty years, and will be deprived of forever 
unless they discover the cause of the evil, and apply the 
remedy to the root." 

Under these auspices the Coinage Act of June 28, 1834, 
was passed. By this Act the pure gold in the eagle was 
reduced from 247^ grains to 232 grains, and a correspond- 
ing reduction was made in the half eagles and quarter 
eagles. The alloy was changed from 22^ to 26, making 
the eagle contain 258 grains of standard gold instead of 270 
grains. The Act of 1834 made no change in the silver coins. 
This change in the gold coinage made the ratio nearly 16 to 
I, the exact ratio being 16.002 to i. Why this ratio was 
established, or, for that matter, why any change at all was 
made, is difficult to understand, in view of the fact that at 
that date the commercial ratio between the two metals was 
I to 15.6, which, for convenience, Europe was calling i to 
IS}4- The new currency ratio of I to 16 was as far removed 
from the commercial ratio of i to 15}^ as was the old cur- 
renc}' ratio of i to 15. Only now the boot was on the other 
foot. By the Act of 1792 gold was undervalued a«d silver 
overvalued. By the Act of 1834 the matter was reversed, 
and gold was overvalued and silver undervalued. Or con- 
sidering the bi-metallic views of the framers of these acts, 
the result of the Act of 1792 was to overvalue silver as to 
gold ; and the effect of the Act of 1834 was to overvalue gold 



176 SII/VER AND GOLD. 

as to silver. In their practical workings these Acts quite 
threw their framers from their bi-metallic base, and inasmuch 
as in the Act of 1792 they attempted to exalt silver at the 
expense of gold, they became, according to the laws laid 
down in economics, silver monometallists. So, inasmuch as 
in the Act of 1834 they sought to exalt gold at the expense 
of silver, they became gold monometallists. There were not 
wanting those who sounded the note of warning that the Act 
of 1834 would but repeat that of 1792, in the respect that 
cheap gold would drive out the silver circulation just as 
cheap silver had driven out the gold circulation. 

The Act of 1834 proved very unsatisfactory in its opera- 
tion. Silver fluctuated, in a commercial sense, for years, 
but it did not fall in price to the ratio of 16 to i of gold. 
Consequently silver became worth more, in relation to 
gold, as bullion or plate than as coin, and it began to dis- 
appear, there being no inducement to coin it. After 1840, 
sight of a silver dollar was rare, and as a coin, it played no 
conspicuous part in our circulation, for very many years. 
Monometallists regard the effects of the Act of 1834 as 
another striking vindication of the truth of " Gresham's 
Law," that the cheaper money invariably drives the dearer 
from circulation. 

ACT OF 1837. 

Dissatisfaction with the Act of i834ledto.that of January 
18, 1837, which was, in its form, a supplement to that of 
1834, yet a complete revision of the laws of mintage, and 
was in fact known as "The Mint Act of 1837." This Act 
changed the standard of both gold and silver coins and the 
ratio between the metals. The standard for gold and silver 
coins was fixed at .900 fine, that is, 900 parts of pure metal 
to 100 parts of alloy. This increased the pure gold in the 
dollar from 23.20 to 23.22 grains, and fixed the ratio between 



SIIvVER AND GOLD. 177 

the two metals at 15.98 to i. The silver dollar was changed 
from 416 grains of standard silver to 412^ grains, and the 
fractional coins were made to correspond in exact propor- 
tion. To make the alloy equal to one-tefith of the weight 
of the coin, it was necessary to add the small fraction of 
two-tenths of one grain of gold to the eagle. No change, 
however, was made in the quantity of pure silver contained 
in the dollar. That remained at 371 /if grains, and it con- 
tinued at that figure. This Act also provided that " gold and 
silver bullion brought to the mint for coinage shall be re- 
ceived and coined by the proper officers for the benefit of 
the depositor." This provision for coinage was taken from 
the previous Acts, and continued the coinage of the two 
metals upon the same footing. The fact that there was no 
change in the quantity of silver in the dollar has given origin 
and currency to the phrase " Dollar of the Fathers," or the 
more alliterative and catchy term " Dollar of the Daddies." 

What is regarded as a serious error in all the Coinasfe 
Acts up to and including that of 1837 was the fact that the 
minor coins had been made to contain the exact proportion 
cf silver contained in the dollar. They, therefore, paid the 
penalty visited on the silver dollar. They shrank from cir- 
culation, or left the country, and this became particularly 
manifest after the inequality between the production of gold 
and silver in this country set in with the discovery of gold 
in California. 

Prior to this discovery the world's production of gold and 
silver was nearly equal, the annual average of gold produc- 
tion between 1841 and 185 1 being about ^$38,000,000, and 
that of silver about ;$34,ooo,000. But from 1849 to 185 1 
the world seems to have poured forth its treasures of gold 
with unparalleled liberality. California, Russia and Aus- 
tralia contributed a new and unprecedented output of gold. 



178 



vSILVER AND GOLD. 



In the five years, from 1851 to 1855, the world's produc- 
tion of gold leaped from ;^38,000,000 to ;^I40,000,000 an- 
nually, while in those years the production of silver only 
increased from ^34,000,000 to $40,000,000 annually. The 
equality between the two products prior to 1849 did not 
serve to materially affect their commercial ratio, but the 
inequality after that year greatly affected it, by giving a still 
higher value to silver. This fact, co-operating with the 
effect of the Coinage Act, enhanced the difficulty already 
spoken of with the circulation of silver coins of every de- 
nomination. '* There is," said Mr. Dunham in Congress in 
1853, "a constant stimulant to gather up every silver coin 
and send it to market as bullion, to be exchanged for gold, 
and the result is, the country is almost devoid of small 
change for the ordinary small transactions, and what we 
have is of a depreciated character." 

The commercial ratio in Europe being about 155^ to i, 
silver coins were worth three per cent, more for export than 
our gold coins ; that is, they were worth three per cent, more 
as bullion than as money. When it became apparent that 
the country was thus being depleted of its change, agitation 
set in for a remedy. 

COINAGE ACT OF 1 849. 

The Coinage Act of March 3, 1849, was a provision for a 
fuller and larger mintage of gold, whose production bade 
fair to be greatly increased in this country owing to devel- 
opments in California. It authorized the coinage of double 
eagles, and also of gold dollars. " Double eagles should 
each be of the value of twenty dollars, or units, and gold 
dollars should each be of the value of one dollar, or unit, 
these coins to be uniform in all respects to the standard for 
gold coins now established by law," 



SILVER AND GOLD. 179 

It was not until the Act of 1853 that the coinage of three 
dollar gold pieces was authorized, " of the value of three 
dollars, or units, conformable in all respects to the standard 
gold coins now authorized by law." The word " dollar or 
unit " was used in all the Coinage Acts to describe the value 
of the gold coins prior to 1873. 

COINAGE ACT OF 1 85 3. 

This Act is significant in our monetary history as being 
the first which recognized the difficulty of maintaining a 
perfect bi-metallic standard, and the first which contained a 
step toward the demonetization of silver. It was passed in 
February, 1853, and it reduced the weight of the half dollar 
from 2o6}( grains of standard silver to 192 grains of the 
same. All the smaller coins were reduced in proportion. 
At the same time the full legal tender quality was removed 
from these subsidiary coins, and they became no longer a 
legal tender for sums exceeding five dollars. This provision 
has not since been removed. Again, it was provided that 
the bullion for the coinage of fractional silver should be 
purchased directly by the government, or by the Director 
of the Mint on account of the government, and that the gain 
arising from the coinage thereof should be credited to the 
Mint. This was a blow at the " free and unlimited coinage " 
of the subsidiary coins. By this reduction of the amount 
of silver in the fractional coins to the extent of about seven 
per cent., all inducement to melt them up or sell them as 
bullion was removed ; for, although the silver dollar still 
remained at from three to three and a half per cent, above 
the gold dollar in value, the seven per cent, reduction in the 
commercial value of the fractional coins brought them three 
to three and a half per cent, below the value of gold ; quite 
enough of depreciation to save them to the circulation. 



iSu SILVER AND GOLD. 

It must be remarked of the period which led to, embraced 
and immediately followed the Coinage Act of 1853, that it 
was a period in which there was hardly any coinage of 
silver dollars, and practically no circulation of them. In 
1850 only ^47,500 silver dollars were coined; in 185 1, 
$1,300; in 1852, $1,100. All attention was paid to the 
coinage of gold, the total coinage of which, in 1852, was 
$56,000,000, fully $2,000,000 of which was in gold dollars. 

The framers of the Act of 1853 paid no attention to the 
fact that our silver production from 185 I to 1855 was about 
$400,000 per year. They saw only the large gold produc- 
tion of over $60,000,000 per year, and the spirit of the Act was 
to take advantage of the opportunity to establish, as far as 
possible, a single currency standard of gold. True, they did 
not interfere with the silver dollar. There was no need to. 
None were being coined. None were in circulation. 

FROM 1853 TO 1873. 

This period is marvellous in the history of metallic money 
and monetary systems at home and abroad. The world's 
production of gold from 1850 to 1870 was $2,725,000,000, 
or five times as much as in the preceding twenty years, and 
quite as much as during tiie entire period from the discov- 
ery of America to the discovery of gold in California. 

The commercial world b'jcame alarmed at these figures, 
fearincr a greneral derangement of values. That the com- 
mercial value of gold was decreasing was manifest from the 
increase in the price of standard commodities all the world 
over. Theories arose in all directions as to remedies. Some 
French economists thought it an excellent time to demon- 
etize gold, and establish a single silver standard. Others 
thought the time opportune to establish the principle of bi- 
n^et^lhsm, provided the several commercial nations could be 




Hon. Richard P. Bland. 

Eorn rear Harlfoid, Ky., August 19, 1835; academically educated ; 
moved to Missouri, 1855; thence to California and Virginia city, Nev. ; 
practiced law and engaged in mining; County Treasurer of Carson ce. ; 
back to Missouri, 1865; practiced law at Rolla and Lebanon; elected, 
as a Democrat, to represent Eighth Missouri District in 43d, 44th, 45th, 
46th, 47th, 48th, 49th, 50th, 51st, and 52d Congresses ; rose to distinction 
as author of Bland Silver Bill, which became a law, with the Allison 
amendment, in 1878; Father of the Free Silver Coinage Bill in 52d 
Congress ; defeated as straight Democratic candidate for the 54th 
Congress by Hon. J. D. Hubbard, his Republican opponent; promi- 
nently mentioned in connection with the Presidency by Free Silver party. 




Hon. Horace Boies. 

Bom in Erie co., N. Y., December 7, 1827 ; started, a poor boy, at 
sixteen, for Racine, Wis. ; worked on a farm for a time and returned to 
New Yuri.:; admitted to bar of Erie co., 1852; elected to Assembly, 
as a RepubiicTH, 1853 ; nominated a second time and defeated; moveti 
to Waterloo, low a, 1867 ; practiced profession, and became large land 
owner; left the Repuljjican party on account of its in<)liii)ition doctrines 
in 1883; advocated Cleveland's election in 1884; favored tarifT reform, 
but not unciualilied free coinage ; nominated for Governor, on Demo- 
cratic ticket, in fall of 1889, and elected; a Congregationalist, strictly 
temperate, and a patron of fine-stock raising. Prominently mentioned as 
candidate for the Presidency on Free Silver Democratic ticket of 1896. 



SILVER AND GOLD. 



'83 



brought to give common consent. France, Ital}-, Swi'tzer- 
land and Belgium formed what was called " The Latin 
Monetary Union " in 1863, based on bi-metallism. But in 
1867 was held the " International Monetary Conference," 
at Paris, in which it was laid down that the adoption of a 
single gold standard was a principle necessary to universal 
coinage. 

Following this, in 1871, came the defeat of France in the 
Franco-Russian war, and her payment of an immense sub- 
sidy in gold to Germany. Immediately, Germany, by a 
series of Coinage Acts from 187 1 to 1 873, demonetized her 
silver and adopted a single gold standard. She stopped coin- 
ing silver and threw it on the market, selling ^140,000,000 
worth between 1873 and 1879. This alarmed the countries 
pledged to a bi-metallic system. The Latin Union closed 
the mints of France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland, to the 
coinage of silver, thus confessing their inr.bility to maintain 
the two metals on an equality and as money. For thirteen 
years France did not issue a single legal tender silver coin, 
and on January i, 1891, the Latin Union went out of ex- 
istence. 

Meanwhile, our own country was passing through the 
throes of war and the demoralization attending an expanded 
and strained credit. In 1861 the government became a bor- 
rower in gold to the extent of ^100,000,000. In February, 
1862, it passed the " Legal Tender Act," under which 
;$ 1 50,000,000 in " Greenbacks " were issued as legal tenders. 
At once gold jumped to a premium. The government's 
promises to pay were so much cheaper and inferior as a cir- 
culating medium, that gold hied away and disappeared as 
currency. 

In July of the same year another issue of ;^ 150,000,000 
of legal tenders was authorized. Gold rose to a still higher 



1 84 SIIvVER AND GOLD. 

premium. Even our fractional silver currency, depreciated 
as it was by the Act of 1853, went to a premium and dis- 
appeared with the gold. This made the fractional paper 
currency necessary. Subsequent uses of government credit 
in various forms and for war purposes, continued to advance 
the premium on gold till in July, 1884, it reached 185 per 
cent. Peace, the ability of the government to pay, as steps 
toward resumption showed, and final resumption in 1879, 
mark the decline of gold to par again, or rather the exalta- 
tion of the government promise to pay to the gold standard. 

THE ACT OF 1 873. 

This Act has become more famous through subsequent 
discussions of it, than on account of its intrinsic merits or 
the debates which attended its passage. It is now " The 
Odious Demonetization Act of 1873 " or "The Conspiracy 
Against Silver " of that year. The facts connected with its 
passage hardly support the charge that it was a " trick " 
played on the advocates of free silver coinage by their 
opponents. As to the intimation that " its contents were 
not fully known " or sufficiently known, that is matter per- 
sonal to the majority which passed it and remote from its 
merits. 

The approaches to no other Coinage Act seem to have 
been more deliberate and gradual. The original draft of the 
Act was presented to the Senate as early as April, 1870, by 
the then Secretary of the Treasury, Hon. Geo. S. Boutwell. 
It had been prepared with great deliberation, and under the 
supervision of Dr. Linderman, Director of the Mint. It pro- 
ceeded on the theory that if the American silver dollar were 
made the equivalent of the five-franc piece of France — France 
being on a bi-metallic basis, and with a great volume of sil- 
ver currency — said dollar might become interchangeable 



vSIIvVlvR AND GOIvD. 185 

with European coins of like value. The bill, therefore, fixed 
the weight of the silver dollar at 384 grains standard silver, 
that being the weight of the five-franc piece. 

But as this was really to reduce the ratio between silver 
and gold to about 14.8 to i, and as the bill gave to the sil- 
ver dollar a limited legal tender power, it was not regarded 
as one which would effect its object and make our silver 
dollar float all over the world. It, therefore, flitted back 
and forward between the two houses of Congress for three 
years, the subject of repeated debates and amendments, the 
theme of much newspaper discussion, till at length it was 
passed by the House, with the clause providing for a silver 
dollar of 384 grains in it. This provision was struck out 
by the Senate, and what was called the " Trade Dollar " 
clause was inserted in its stead. This clause provided for a 
trade dollar of 420 grains standard silver and 378 grains 
pure silver, and a limit on its legal tender quality to sums 
of five dollars. The object was to provide a market for our 
production of silver and to make a dollar which would sub- 
.stitute the old Spanish dollar in the Pacific trade with China 
and Japan. It was a dollar of commerce and not circu- 
lation. 

The bill then went to a Committee of Conference between 
the two Houses, where its final form was agreed upon. It 
then passed both Houses and became a law February 12, 
1873. It provided that the gold coins "shall be a one dol- 
lar piece, which, at the standard weight of 25.8 grains, shall 
be the unit of value," etc. 

The gold coins of larger denominations were based upon 
the one dollar piece. The silver coins were declared to be 
a trade dollar, etc., and " tJie weight of the trade dollar shall 
be 420 grains troy . . . and said coins shall be a legal ten- 
der at their nominal value for any amount not exceeding 



i86 SILVER AND GOLD. 

five dollars in any one payment." Thus the standard silver 
dollar was not only struck from the list of coins, but its sub- 
stitute was limited in legal tender power and classified with 
the fractional coins. No change was made in the weight or 
quality of the gold coins. The important changes made, 
and which have given rise to so much contention since, 
were : 

1. The gold dollar was made the unit value. 

2. The trade was substituted for the standard silver dollar. 

3. Silver was deprived of full legal tender power, and 
limited to payments in sums of five dollars. 

No change was made in the minting privilege accorded 
the two metals, except with reference to fractional coins. 
Owners of silver were permitted to deposit their bullion at 
the Mint upon the same terms as owners of gold bullion, so 
far as trade dollars were concerned. The provision of the 
Act of 1853, to buy silver bullion on Government account 
for coining fractional silver, was continued in the Act of 
1873, but any owner of silver bullion could " deposit the 
same at any mint, to be formed into bars or into trade dol- 
lars," at a charge not to exceed the actual average cost to 
the mint. In answering the complaint that the Act of 1873 
struck down silver, Mr. Ehrich, of Colorado, says : — 

" Silver has been struck down, but not by the bill of 1873, 
nor by any bill concocted by man. The hand which struck 
down silver is the hand which will strike us all down in 
time, the hand which nothing can withstand, the irresistible 
hand of Nature. Silver has been struck down by the 
natural forces, by the great law of supply and demand. The 
yearly average of gold production in the twenty-five years 
from 185 I to 1875 was ;^ 127,000,000. The yearly average 
product of silver for the same period was ;^ 5 1 ,000,000. The 
average annual product of gold for the fifteen years from 



SILVER AND GOLD. 187 

1876 to 1890 declined to ;^ 108,000,000, a falling off of 15 
per cent. The average annual product of silver for the 
same period increased to ;^i 16,000,000, an increase of 127 
per cent. There is the whole silver question, and in the 
face of these facts, it is now impossible for the United States, 
single handed, with free and unlimited coinage, to bring sil- 
ver to a parity with gold on any such basis as 16 to i ; it is 
more impossible than for a thousand men to pick up our 
great ' Pike's Peak ' and transport it bodily to Denver," 

ACTS RELATING TO THE TRADE DOLLAR. 

By the Act of July 22, 1876, it was provided that "the 
trade dollar shall not hereafter be a legal tender," and the 
Secretary of the Treasury was authorized to limit the coin- 
age thereof" to such an amount as he may deem sufficient 
to meet the export demand for the same." By this Act the 
silver dollar was entirely eliminated from the list of United 
States coins, Subsequently an Act was passed authorizing 
the redemption of the outstanding trade dollars at par, and 
directing their recoinage into standard dollars. Before the 
passage of this Act, however, considerable loss was sustained 
by the people through the destruction of the trade dollar as 
lawful money. Trade dollars to the number of 35,965,924 
were issued from the mints, a large proportion of which was 
sent to China and never returned for redemption. 

EXTENT OF COINAGE UNDER ACTS TO 1 878. 

From the establishment of the mint in 1792, to 1806, the 
aggregate number of silver dollars coined was only 1,439,417, 
and from i8o6 to 1835 there was no coinage whatever of 
this piece. In 1836 the number of dollar pieces coined was 
only 1,000. The two years following coinage of dollars was 
suspended, but was resumed in 1839, when 300 were issued, 



i88 SILVER AND GOLD. 

and the coinage was continued until 1873, when the standard 
silver dollar was supplanted by the trade dollar. Tlie largest 
annual coinage of standard silver dollars was made in the 
years 1871 and 1872, when it was ;$i, 1 17, 136 and ^i, 1 18,600 
respectively, which is equal to nearly two-fifths of the aggre- 
gate of standard silver dollars coined from 1792 to 1873, 
which aggregate was 7,830,538. The number coined in 
January and February, 1873, was 296,000,' which are in- 
cluded in the above aggregate. The " Demonetization Act " 
was passed February 12, 1873. It will be seen, therefore, 
that standard silver dollars were coined down to the passage 
of the Act which substituted the trade dollar. 

COINAGE ACT OF 1 878. 

Remembering now that for seventeen years prior to 1879 
^the date of resumption — neither gold nor silver coins 
were in circulation in the United States, and that by 1876 
silver had fallen to $i.is per ounce, we are prepared for the 
era of agitation which began with the introduction of free 
silver coinage bills into Congress. More than one of these 
was introduced into the House, but that particular one which 
was prepared and championed by Mr. Bland, of Missouri, 
passed the House in the fall of 1877. It became known as 
the "Bland Bill," and the coinage of silver that followed in 
its wake became known as the " Bland Dollars." 

What was really the " Bland Bill," that is, the bill passed 
by the House and sent to the Senate, never became a law. 
The bill provided for the coinage of " silver dollars of the 
weight of 412V2 grains Troy, of standard silver, as provided 
in the Act of January 18, 1837." . . . "Which coins, 
together with all silver dollars heretofore coined by the 
United States of equal weight and fineness, shall be a legal 
tender, at their nominal value, for all debts and dues, public 



SILVER AND GOLD. 189 

and private, except where otherwise provided by contract. 
And, any owner of silver bullion may deposit the same at 
any United States coinage mint or assay office, to be coined 
into such dollars for his benefit, upon the same terms and 
conditions as gold bullion is deposited for coinage under ex- 
isting laws." 

The above is the " Bland Bill " as to its vital points and 
as it passed the House and appeared in the Senate. It gave 
free coinage (that is, the same coinage as was given to gold) 
to any owner of silver bullion who presented it at the mint. 
It save unlimited coinage of silver dollars for all silver bul- 
lion presented to be coined. It made coinage compulsory. 
At the ratio existing between silver and gold, it was prac- 
tical mono-metallism, with silver as the standard and gold at 
a premium, for the cheaper metal, when coined, invariably 
takes the volume of circulation and expels the dearer. 

The entire character of this bill was changed in the Senate 
by the Allison amendment and became known as the Bland- 
Allison Bill. It was then passed by both Houses and be- 
came the Bland-Allison Act. As passed, it involved the 
principle of bi-metallism, for it limited the coinage of the 
cheaper metal, silver, and undertook to maintain it at par 
with gold by providing for its redemption. 

This Act of February 28th, 1878, restored the silver 
dollar of 412^ grains to the coinage with full legal tender 
power, but did not restore silver bullion to the minting 
privilege which attached to it prior to 1873, and which was 
in every respect equal to that bestowad upon gold. This 
Act re-established the " dollar of the fathers," made it legal 
tender for all debts, " except when otherwise expressly 
stipulated in the contract," and directed the Secretary of the 
Treasury to purchase silver bullion monthly " at the market 
price thereof, not less than two million dollars' worth per 



igo SILVER AND GOLD. 

month nor more than four miUion dollars' worth per month, 
and cause the same to be coined monthly, as fast as so pur- 
chased, into such dollars." The third section provided that- 
holders of silver dollars " may deposit the same with the 
Treasurer or any Assistant Treasurer of the United States, 
in sums not less than ten dollars, and receive therefor cer- 
tificates of not less than ten dollars each." 

It also provided as follows : — 

" That immediately after the passage of this Act the Presi- 
dent shall invite the governments of the countries compos- 
ing the Latin Union, so called, and of such other European 
nations as he may deem advisable, to join the United States 
in a conference to adopt a common ratio between gold and 
silver, for the purpose of establishing internationally the use 
of bimetallic money and securing fixity of relative value 
between those metals." 

This bill represented the same order of thought that 
pervaded the silver agitation of after years. Those who 
favored the " Greenback" inflation scheme were its ardent 
supporters. Representatives from the Silver-producing 
States were strongly in its favor, in the belief that it would 
enhance the value of their product. While it made the 
coinage of silver dollars compulsory to the extent of 
;^2, 000,000 a month, it placed a limit at ^4,000,000. It was 
thought that this much circulation in silver dollars could be 
kept at par with gold, but it was soon found that the silver 
dollars would not circulate. Out of the 12,136 tons of 
silver purchased by the Government under the Act at a 
cost of $308,199,262, and out of the 378,166,793 silver 
dollars coined therefrom under the Act, at an expense of 
$5,000,000, not more than one out of eight found its way 
into circulation. For all the benefit to the circulation 
derived from the Act, the Government might as well have 



vSILVER AND GOLD. 191 

saved itself the ;!$5, 000,000 expense of coinage, and bought 
and stored the silver in bullion shape. The bullion was 
always worth more than the coined dollars, and could have 
been more safely and cheaply cared for in the Treasury 
vaults than its equivalent in coins. There was no expansion 
of the currency, as the ardent advocates of the bill fondly 
hoped. Nor was there an increase in the price of silver 
bullion, for it declined from ^1.12 an ounce in 1879, to 93^ 
cents an ounce in 1889, or in other words it declined to a 
point where it stood to gold as 22 to i per ounce value, and 
the value of silver in a silver dollar was only 72 cents. 

The silver certificate feature of the Act proved of little 
practical value, and in the main the Act negatived its own 
provisions and bred causes for its repeal. 

COINAGE ACT OF 189O. 

But the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 was not without its 
uses. It satisfied neither its advocates nor its opponents, 
and increased rather than decreased the silver agitation. It 
led directly to and perhaps hastened the passage of the 
Coinage Act of July 14, 1890. 

The bill which became the basis of this Act was prepared 
on a plan which embraced the views of Secretary of the 
Treasury Windom. It was submitted to the House, and 
passed. Its provisions were that any owner of silver bul- 
lion, not foreign, could bring it to any mint and obtain for 
it legal tender treasury notes equal in value to the then 
market value of the silver, which notes were redeemable, 
cither in gold or silver bullion, at its then market value, at 
the option of the government, or in silver dollars at the 
holder's option. 

This bill was amended in the Senate by inserting a clause 
providing for free and unlimited coinage. It then went to 



192 SILVER AND GOLD. 

a conference committee, where it took the form in which it 
was passed finally and became a law, July 14, 1890. 

As passed, it directed the Secretary of the Treasury to 
purchase 4,500,000 ounces of silver bullion each month at 
the market price thereof, not exceeding $1 for every 371% 
grains of pure silver, and to issue in pa}'ment for such pur- 
chase Treasury Notes of the United States. 

Those Treasury Notes were made redeemable in coi//, gold 
or silver, at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and had full legal-tender value. Following this clause was 
one which read, " It being the established policy of the 
United States to maintain the two metals on a parity with 
each other upon the present legal ratio, or such ratio as 
may be provided by law," 

The Act also provided for the actual coinage of 2,000,000 
silver dollars a month up until July i, 1 89 1. 

By comparing the two Acts of 1878 and 1890, a better 
view of the silver controversy may be had. The Act 
of 1878 made it compulsory on the Government to buy 
silver bullion to the value of ^2,000,000 and not exceeding 
;^4,ooo,000 monthly, and to coin the same into silver dollars. 
This was a drain on the Treasury of at least ^24,000,000 a 
year. Holders of silver dollars could exchange them at the 
Treasury, in sums of ten dollars, for Silver Certificates, the 
coin remaining in the Treasury for the payment of the Cer- 
tificate on demand. These Certificates were not given full 
legal tender value, except for payment of customs and all 
public dues. This approval of them by the Government 
confirmed thciii in popular estimation, and they were as 
freely accepted b)' the people as if the}' had been a full legal 
tender. 

The Act of 1 890 made compulsory on the Treasury the pur- 
chase of 4,500,000 ounces of silver per month, or 54poo,000 



SILVER AND GOLD. 193 

ounces a year. But instead of paying cash for it, payment 
was to be made in Certificates, called Treasury notes, 
especially issued, redeemable in gold or silver coin, and 
clothed with full legal tender power. 

It will be seen that payment for the bullion, under the 
Act of 1878, was in cash; while payment for the bullion 
under the Act of 1890 was by Certificate, or Treasury note. 

There was no compulsory coinage of the bullion under 
the Act of 1890, except at the rate of ^2,000,000 a month 
up till July I, 1 89 1. After that date no silver dollars were 
coined, but the bullion purchased was held in the form 
of fine silver bars. Under the Act, ^28,298,45 5 were coined, 
and up to April i, 1891, ^89,602,198 in Treasury notes, to 
pay for bullion deposited, had been issued, ^77,605,000 of 
which were in circulation. At the same date the value of 
siK'er bars held by the Treasury was 1^65,720,000. 

On November i, 1891, the total of silver dollars coined 
and in existence in the United States, under all the Acts, 
was ;$409,475,368, of which ^347,339,907 were in the 
Treasury, and only ^62,135,461 outside of the Treasury, or 
in circulation. 

Against this ^323,668,401 silver certificates had been 
issued, ^321,142,642 of which were outside of the Treasury 
and ^2,525,759 inside. At the same date the stock of silver 
bullion in the Treasury was ^33,094,234. 

The 54,000,000 ounces of silver which the Government is 
required to buy yearly, and to issue Treasury notes therefor, 
was the exact output of the silver mines in the United States 
in 1890. A prime object of the law was, therefore, to 
furnish a sure market for the product of our mines, at the 
prevailing price of silver bullion when presented at the 
Treasury. The Act was a compromise Act, and both mine- 
owners and advocates of " free and unlimited coinage " ac- 



J94 SILVER AND GOLD. 

cepted the compromise, as the best that could be done to 
secure a certain home market for their product, and at the 
same time increase the circulating medium of the country 
by just the number of Treasury notes required to purchase 
54,000,000 ounces of silver. 

Experience has shown that the Act really authorized the 
purchase of more than the silver product of American mines, 
available for coinage purposes, since some three to five 
million ounces of said product are annually used up in the 
arts. 

It was a general belief, at the time of the passage of the 
Act of 1890, that its effect would be to increase the market 
price of silver. Indeed this was confidently prophesied by 
mine-owners and free-silver-coinage advocates. In anticipa- 
tion of such rise, silver speculators entered the market and 
drove silver bullion up to $1.05 an ounce in April, 1890; 
to ;^i.o8 in May; to ^1.15 in August; to ;^i.2i in Septem- 
ber. But now the natural law of supply and demand began 
to operate against them. They had to contend with the 
world's market and the world's prices, and no longer with a 
home market and home prices. The inevitable consequence 
was that the price of silver broke. The country that could 
sustain a certain amount of silver coin, as a circulating 
medium, at par with gold, could not sustain the market 
value of silver bullion at a point above where the laws of 
supply and demand, as established by the world at large, 
chose to fix it. 

In October, 1890, silver fell to ^1.09 per ounce; in De- 
cember to $\ 06. The decline was gradual for a long 
time. In December, 1891, silver was worth 943^2 cents an 
ounce, and the fine silver in a dollar was worth only 73 
cents. On May 23, 1892, silver sold for 88j^:( cents per 
ounce. Therefore, even with so excellent a customer as the 



SILVER AND GOLD. 195 

Government, and one ready to take the entire output of the 
silver mines of the country, the market price of the product 
decHned. The law of the world proved mightier than the 
law of the United States. 

THE BLAND FREE COINAGE BILL PROPOSED ACT OF 1 892. 

Failure of silver producers to reahze their expectations 
vmder the Act of 1 890, a growing desire to relieve depressed 
industrial and trade conditions, especially in the West and 
South, and the fact that political conventions in a great 
many States had given the silver question a party turn, 
rendered the opening of the Fifty-second Congress an op- 
portune time to seek new coinage legislation. In the 
Democratic Conventions the planks favored the " free and 
unlimited coinage of silver;" in the Republican Conven- 
tions they favored the " maintainance of silver on a parity 
with gold." 

The Congress opened with an overwhelming Democratic 
majority, and Mr. Bland, of Missouri, became the recognized 
leader of his party on the silver question. He introduced 
into the House what became known as the " Bland Free 
Silver Coinage Bill," and advocated it with his well-known 
ability. It drew around it the advocates of " free and un- 
limited coinage" and became the subject of animated and 
prolonged debate. When ripe for passage Mr. Bland de- 
manded the previous question, which failed by the very re- 
markable vote of 148 yeas to 148 nays; there being enougli 
of Eastern Democrats voting with the Republicans to cause 
this disappointing result to the friends of the measure. 

As this vote by no means disposed of the measure final!}' 
in the House, or if so, as the question proved a leading one 
in the National campaign of 1892, it is well to understand 
the provisions of the bill. 



196 SILVER AND GOLD. 

It provides that the unit of value shall be the standard 
silver dollar as now coined, of 412^ grains standard silver, or 
the gold dollar of 25.8 grains standard gold. 

That the standard gold and silver coins shall be full legal 
tender. 

That any holder of standard gold or silver bullion shall 
be entitled to have the same minted into coins free of 
charge, or may deposit said bullion at the mints and receive 
coin notes therefor, .equal in value to the coinage value of 
the bullion deposited, the bullion thereupon to become the 
property of the government. 

That the coin notes shall not be less than one nor over 
one thousand dollars in value and shall be a legal tender. 

That issue of the Treasury notes in pay for bullion, pro- 
vided for in the Act of 1890, shall be discontinued, and all 
such as are outstanding shall be called in and destroyed and 
coin notes shall be substituted for them. 

That the issue of coin notes shall never be greater than 
the coinage value of the bullion in the Treasury. 

That said coin notes shall be redeemed in coin at the 
Treasury, and the bullion deposited shall be coined as fast 
as said coins are needed for such purposes of redemption. 

That any holder of gold or silver coins may deposit the 
same, in sums of ten dollars, and demand coin notes 
therefor. 

That the Act of 1890 is repealed; and that the silver 
dollar of 412^ grains may change to one of 400 grains as 
soon as France reopens her mints to free and unrestricted 
coinage of silver at the ratio of 15^ of silver to i of gold. 

Under the Act of 1890 the government must purchase 
54,000,000 ounces of silver per annum, for which it pays the 
market price. 

Under the proposed Act of 1892 the owner of gold or 



SILVER AND GOLD. 197 

silver bullion iiiiglit luive deposited his bullion at the 
mint, demanded its mintage free, or demanded coin notes 
for it at the mint value of the bullion. 

Under the act of 1890, the owner of bullion got the 
bullion price for it on the day of deposit at the mint. 
Under the proposed Bland law of 1892, he got pay at the 
mint value of the bullion ; that is, for every ounce of 
silver deposited, that has cost him, say ninety-five cents, 
he would have received one dollar and twenty-nine cents 
in coin. The opponents of free silver coinage put it this 
way : The mine owners, under the law of 1890, turned 
in their annual product of 54,000,000 ounces of silver, say 
in 1891, at a value of 155,796,833, for which tliey received 
that amount of Treasury notes. Under the proposed 
Bland act, they could have deposited their 54,000,000 
ounces, and demanded the mint value, or <i)Tl,000,000 in 
coin notes. Therefore they would have received thirty 
per cent, in excess of the market value of silver. 

During the financial and industrial depression following 
the political revolution of 1892, the new administration 
charged the disastrous times to the existence of the Silver 
Act of 1890, or rather to the purchasing clause of said 
act. In this it had a large support in both political 
parties, though the Republicans t(jok the ground that as 
the act had proven jiarmless under the prior administra- 
tion, the disease which afflicted the country was due 
rather to the standing threat upon its industries than to 
the Silver Act. 

It was well known to Pi'esident Cleveland that a large 
and aggressive sentiment existed in the South and West, 
in his own party and among the Populists, in favor of the 
free and unlimited coinage of silver in the ratio of 16 to 
1, and against the repeal of the Sherman Act of 1890, 



198 SILVER AND GOLD. 

pro\ uled nothing more favorable could be substituted for 
it. Though persuaded iu his own mind that existing de- 
plorable conditions were due to that Act and could only 
be remedied by its repeal, though urged by the friends of 
lepeal to call an extra session of the Fifty-third Congress 
to get the obnoxious measure out of the way, the Presi- 
dent did not feel it safe to relegate so momentous a prob- 
lem to the freshly chosen and untested membership of 
the Congress till the full effect of the commercial and 
industrial crisis had been felt by the congressional dis- 
tricts, and had served as an object lesson to teach the 
necessity for party unity in favor of repeal. The crises 
grew apace daily. 

At length, June 30, 1893, the President called Congress 
in extra session on August 7. It met while the crisis aa as 
at its height, and amid devastations of enterprise un^^aral- 
led in our history. The President's brief message urged 
the Congress to adhere to the letter of the call, which was 
the repeal of the Sherman Act of 1890, and set forth all 
the arguments that had been used by politicians and busi- 
ness men in favor of such repeal. The paper pleased the 
Republicans who favored repeal. It embittered the free 
silver coinage men of both parties. • As a large majorit}^ 
of these were in the Democratic ranks, he ran great risk 
of disrupting his own party and defeating the object of 
liis call, but he trusted largely to his personal and admin- 
istrative powers, to the value of the object lessons of the 
preceding months, and to the necessity for paity cohesion, 
to sustain him in his course. 

By August 28th, 1893, the debates over repeal of the 
act closeil, and a vote was taken which stood 240 to 110 
in favor of I'epeal. A vote was not reached in the Senate 
till October 30th, when it stood 43 to 32 in favor of re- 




Hon. Witjjam M. Stewart. 

Born in Wayne Co., N. Y., August 9, 1827 ; attended Yale College, 
1849-50; started for California and arrived May, 1850; engaged in min- 
ing; studied law in lti52; appointed District Aitorney in 1853, and 
elected next year; appointed Attorney-General of California, 1854; 
located at Virginia city, Nev., 1860; engrossed in mining litigation and 
development of mining industry; member of Territorial Convention, 
1801 ; member of Constituiional Convention, 1803; elected U. S. Senator, 
1864 and 1869 ; resumed general law practice for Pacific Stntes ; re- 
elected to U. S. Senate, as a Republican, for term beginning March 4, 
1887 and again in 1893; jirominent advocate of Free Silver Coinage; 
Chairman of Committee on Mines and Mining, and member of Commit- 
tees on Claims, Irrigation, Indian Affairs and Pacific Railroads. 




Joseph C. IS. Him ki;i i;.\. 

Uoin in Woodford co., Ky., C)ct. 1, 1838; educated at Sayies Insti- 
tute and Centre College; studied law at Lexington, and admitted to the 
bar in 1858 ; entered Confederate army in 1861; resumed practice in 
1865; elected to State legislature, 1871 and 1873; elected to House in 
44th, 45th 46th, 47th and 48tli Congres';es ; elected to U. S. Senate, 
1885 and 1890; candidate for re-election in 1896, but legislature failed 
to elect; leader of free silver coinage party in his State, and prominently 
mentioned as Presidential nominee of Democratic party in 1896. 



SILVER AND GOLD. 201 

peal. The country at first felt a sense of relief over this 
repeal. Banks felt easier and credit grew bolder. But 
there was now little use for money. Industrial enterpiise 
remained in a state of paralysis. It soon became manifcbt 
that the substantial benefits expected from repeal were 
not to be realized, and that the causes of depression and 
panic must be sought for in other directions. 

In the first regular session of the Fifty-third Congress, 
December 4th, 1893, the question of silver coinage came 
up again. The Treasury reserve had fallen below the 
•1;100,000,000 limit, deemed safe for redemption purposes. 
There was a deficit in Treasury receipts of about $68,- 
000,000. One loan of -$50,000,000 had been called for, 
and others were expected to follow. As a means of aid- 
ing the Treasur}^ Mr. Bland introduced into the House a 
bill providing for the coinage of the Treasury seigniorage. 
It was championed by all the free silver coinage men, who 
saw in it an opportunity they had lost during the extra 
session of the Congress. The estimated value of this 
seigniorage was $55,000,000 which, if coined into silver 
dollars, would be so much straight gain to the Treasury. 
It was opposed stoutly by Republicans and an able Demo- 
ci-atic contingent, as sheer inflation, without a particle of 
security behind it, since the value of silver bullion in the 
Treasury, against which $153,000,000 of silver certificates 
had been issued, had fallen from $126,000,000 to $97,000,- 
000. Adding the entire estimated value of the seignior- 
age ($55,000,000) to this $97,000,000, and the sum would 
still be short of the $153,000,000 silver certificates which 
were to be protected. This bill did not pass, but it served 
to show that the question of the free-coinage of silver was 
a rapidly growing one and that the day might not be dis- 
21 



202 SILVER AND GOLD. 

taut when it would project itself on the countrj^ in a form 
independent of existing political parties. 

One of the arguments most depended on by the free 
silver coinage men is to the effect that the discrimination 
of existing laws against silver creates the disparity be- 
tween it and gold, and that the removal of such discrim- 
ination would make the bullion value of silver and the 
price of it with the Government stamp upon it the same. 
They say that whenever the mints are open to the free 
coinage of silver, and whenever the owner of such silver 
can have it exchanged at the rate of one hundred cents 
for three hundred and seventy-one and one fourth grains, 
silver will be worth as much without as with the Govern- 
ment stamp. 

Their opponents say, this argument quite loses sight 
of the fact that the moment three hundred and seventy- 
one and one-fourtli grains of silver which are worth in 
the markets of the world, say seventy cents, become worth 
one hundred cents by sheer virtue of the stamp upon it, 
all the world will pour its surplus silver into our mints 
and completely swamp our metal currency. Gold would 
flee and there would be no means of sustaining silver 
money at par. They also say that as our country is at 
present situated, with barely gold enough to sustain our 
present silver circulation, the moment free silver coinage 
was adopted it would be accepted by the Treasury and by 
the banks as notice to suspend gold payments. Unless 
such suspension were resorted to, it would be no time be- 
fore the gold reserve would be exhausted and disaster 
ensue. 

The arguments in favor of free-silver coinage gain great 
plausibility and become far reaching when they are turned 
to the account of the debtor classes. As seen from the 



SILVER AND GOLD. 203 

reasoning just above given, tliey could take advantage of 
the thirty per cent, difference between the market and 
mint value of the silver dollar and thus pay their debts at 
less than they had contracted to pay. The ojjponents of 
free silver coinage question the state of morals that sanc- 
tions this kind of repudiation, and add that it would be 
infinitely better for the Government to extend this differ- 
ence as a charity to debtors, rather than run the risk of a 
dishonored currency and of the panics, disturbances and 
immense losses which would surel}' follow. 

Again, the free silver coinage men say they are certain 
that their doctrine in practice will make the silver dollar 
the equal of the gold dollar. Their opponents say that if 
this be so, the silver dollar will be as hard to get as the 
gold dollar, and therefore, the debtor classes will be no 
better off than before. But, they also say, granting everj^ 
advantage claimed by the free silver coinage men for the 
debtor classes, how about the creditor classes? They are 
by far the most numerous class. Every laborer is a credi- 
tor when his day's work is done, every pensioner, every 
saving institution, etc. If the cheaper dollar scales the 
mortgage on the debtor's farm, and makes it easier to pay, 
a thing the mortgagee miglit stand, would not the cheaper 
dollar equally scale the debt due at night to the miner, 
artisan, day laborer and servant? 

No, says the free coinage man, for the dollar would still 
be a dollar. But, answers his opponent, it being a dollar 
whose intrinsic value is worth only sixty or seventy 
cents, and being plenty, prices must rise, and the daily 
earning can only be exchanged for what was formerly 
much less in value. 

It is somewhat lamentable that so momentous a question 
AS that of silver and gold, or in other words, our currency 



204 SILVER AND GOLD. 

of redeiijption, should in late years have become clouded 
with theories and visions. After all, there are but a few 
infallible laws underlying the whole question of metallic 
currency, and these liave been stated in this article. All 
else is " the stuff that dreams are made of," glittering but 
ephemcrul, plausible but perishable. They may serve to 
whet a fancy for an hour, but never to nerve a judgment 
for a lifetime. 

There are many who seriousl}' deprecate the rapid drift 
of this question of metallic currency into partyism. As 
it seems impossible for it to escape this fate, judging from 
the tenor of latest sentiment, it were perhaps best for it 
to pass through the inevitable ordeal — that alembic of a 
popular campaign of square issues, which shall serve to 
separate the dross of theory from the pure ingot of fact. 
But in so passing, it should be a supreme stud}^ and super- 
human effort on the part of all to keep it free from those 
animosities and acerbities that belittle its importance and 
shroud it with dangers. To make it a question of party, 
and to settle it on a basis of political sentiment, if such 
must needs be, it is surely not necessary to array the poor 
;igainst the rich, the debtor against creditor, section 
against sectioii ; nor is it necessary to supplement argu- 
ment and calm reasoning with threats to fire on another 
Sumter and force another secession and rebellion. 

Above all it should not be forgotten that other coun- 
tries have done with their silver just wliat it is proposed 
to do with ours, and that they — notably the intelligent, 
manufacturing and commercial countries of the Latin 
Union — had to give up in despair their effort to sustain 
silver coin at par with gold, in quantities beyond the ordi- 
nary needs of trade. With a steadj' reserve of gold in our 
treasury, a fair, which means a large, quantity of silver can 



SILVER AND GOLD. ^05 

always be floated, but lu give silver tlie preponderance by 
adiuitting it to free and unlimited coinage at a ratio not 
warranted b}'' its intrinsic value, is to place gold at its mercy, 
if the experience of other nations, and all former exper- 
ience of our own, is worth anything. 

We are a young nation, independent of others politically, 
but unfortunately not yet so far on as to be independent 
of the world in a commercial sense. We are a debtor na- 
tion, and have a national credit at stake. If the nations 
that have dealt with us, and with whom we expect to deal 
on an honorable basis, were co-movers w ith us in a read- 
justment of metallic ratios and in the establishment of free 
and unlimited coinage of gold and silver, the question 
would rush quickly toward final and satisfactory settle- 
ment. It was with this view that the recent international 
monetary conference was instituted. It did not achieve 
its aim at a single session, but it set all the attending na- 
tions to serious thinking, and in its moral effects the con- 
ference won a greater success than was expected. It re- 
mains to be considered by friends and foes of free silver 
coinage whether the international method of settling the 
metallic currency question finally is nut tlie quickest and 
surest, and therefore the one to be pursued to the -end 
by a nation possessing our instincts of honor, and so inti- 
mately related to all the commercial nations of the globe. 

Silver Arithmetic. 

Question — On June 22, 1896, silver bullion sold in 
New York for 69 cents per ounce of 480 grains ; what was 
the price of a grain of sucli silver? 

Solution — Divide 69 cents by 480 grains, and the result 
will be .01437-1-cents, as the price of grain of such 
silver. 



206 SILVEU AND GOLD. 

Question — \n a silver dollar there are 37:^ grains of 
silver ; what is the cost of the silver dollar if each of said 
371| grains is worth .01437 cents? 

^Solution — Multiply 371^ grains by. 01437 cents, and the 
result will be 53^ cents as the cost of the silver in a silver 
dollar. 

Question — If a man gets one dollar, or 100 cents, for 
the silver which cost him oidy 53^ cents ; how mucli would 
lie get for that ounce of silver bullion which sold on June 
22, 1896, for 69 cents? 

Solution — As 53J cents is to 100 cents, so 69 cents to 
the answer, which is $1,294 per ounce for his silver bullion. 

Question — When we speak of bullion value of silver or 
gold, what do we mean? 

Answer — We mean the value of the pure metal, as 
found in the commercial bar, ingot or bullion. 

Question — What is meant by standard value of silver or 
gold? 

Answer — Standard value is that of the coined metal. 
That is, it is the bullion oi- pure metal, value decreased by 
the amount of alloy — say about one-tenth — introduced for 
purposes of coinage. 

Question — What does the ratio of 16 to 1 mean ? 

Answer — It means that if 371^ grains of silver, as 
above, enter into a silver dollar, it shall correspond to tlie 
23.22 grains of gold in a gold dollar; or, that since 
23.22 grains of gold make a gold dollar, therefore ?>1V\ 
grains of silver shall make a silver dollai'. These two 
components, in grains, stand to each other as 16 to 1 
nearly. 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

THE COLONIAL PERIOD. 

The English colonial system in America began, in 1616, 
with the Virginia charter. 

It extended until the colonies numbered thirteen, em- 
bracing the Atlantic front from Georgia to Maine, and ex- 
tending inland indefinitely. 

Whatever the ambition or object of the colonists, they did 
not cut the apron string of allegiance to Great Britain, but 
agreed to obey the decrees of her langs, the edicts of her 
parliaments and the behests of her institutions. 

This may seem strange, since every colony was a protest 
against home hardship and an escape from tyrannical inter- 
ference with individual rights. 

But questions of title to land, incipient government, protec- 
tion against foes, and various others, proved paramount and 
decided the terms of colonization. 

As to the mother country, those terms implied political 
allegiance and commercial contribution. 

Legitimate trade dates from the reign of Elizabeth. Hol- 
land, England and France vied with each other in that 
paternalism which went out to the industries and to com- 
merce in the shape of protective legislation. 

From the reign of Elizabeth to 1846, there are four 

hundred Acts of Parliament — tonnage laws, poundage laws, 

protective tariff and commercial regulations — relating to 

manufactures and trade. 

Some of these prohibited imports. Some prohibited ex- 

207 



2o8 HISTORY 01^ AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

ports, lesf inferior nations should acquire the skill of the 
mother country. There is no historic record of a protective 
system so extreme in its conditions and so arbitrarily applied 
as that of Great Britain, if we exclude the despotic system 
of China. 

Says McCullough in his Commercial Dictionary : — "It 
was a leading principle in the colonial policy, adopted as 
well by England as by other European nations, to discourage 
all attempts to manufacture such articles in the colonies as 
could be provided for them in the mother country." 

Says Bancroft in his " History of the United States " : — 
" England in its relation with other states sought a con- 
venient tariff In the colonies it prohibited industry." 

In 1699 the British Parliament enacted that no wool, yam, 
cloth, or woollen manufactures of the English Plantations in 
America should be shipped from any of said Plantations, or 
otherwise laden, in order to be transported thence to any 
place whatsoever, under a penalty of forfeiting both ship and 
cargo, and a fine of ^2500 for each offence. 

In 1732 Parliament prohibited the exportation of hats 
from province to province (colony to colony) in America, 
and limited the number of apprentices to be taken by 
hatters. 

In 1750 the Parliament prohibited as a common nuisance 
the erection of any mill in America for slitting or rolling 
iron, or any plating forge to work with a tilt-hammer, or 
furnace for making steel. The penalty for such crime was 
;^iooo. 

A little later an Act was passed prohibiting the making 
of nails in the province of Pennsylvania. 

About the same time Lord Chatham announced it as his 
opinion of -colonial dependence that the American colonies 
ought not to be permitted to make even a hob-nail or horse- 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 209 

shoe for themselves, and these views were incorporated into 
the Act of 1765 which absolutely prohibited the migration 
ot artisans to the American colonies. 

In 1781 the Parliament enacted that no woollen machin- 
ery should be exported to the American colonies. 

In 1782 Parliament enacted that no cotton machinery 
should be exported to the colonies, and that no artificers in 
cotton should migrate thither. In the same year the duty 
on bar-iron was fixed at ;^I2 per ton. This rate lasted till 

1795- 

In 1785 Parliament prohibited the exportation of iron and 
steel making machinery to the colonies, and the migration 
of workmen, skilled in those branches of trade, thither. 

In 1797 Parliament levied a duty, then deemed prohibitive, 
of 514 per ton on all foreign bar-iron imported into Great 
Britain. In 1798 this was increased to ^15 per ton; in 
1806 to ;^23 per ton; in 1810 to ;^24 per ton; in 1818 to 
;^28 per ton; in 1825 to ^33 per ton, if imported in British 
ships, and to ^38, and over, per ton, if imported in foreign 
ships. During the same period, other manufactures of iron 
paid $go per ton, and iron not otherwise enumerated ;^250 
for every $500 worth imported. All of these rates were 
designed to be absolutely prohibitive, in accordance with 
the existing policy of the realm, which policy was that of 
France and Holland, both countries with colonial posses- 
sions, and both striving for commercial and manufacturing 
independence. 

In 1799 the English Parliament prohibited the migration 
of colliers, lest other countries should acquire the art of 
mining coal. 

Says Adam Smith, the father of English political economy, 
" Even up to 1776 England prohibited the exportation from 
one province (American) to another by water, and even the 



2IO HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

carriage by land, upon horseback or in cart, of hats, of wools 
and woolen goods, of the produce of America, a regulation 
which effectually prevents the establishment of any manu- 
facture of such commodities for distant sale, and confines 
the industry of her colonists in this way to such coarse and 
household manufactures as a private family conmionly 
makes for its own use, or for that of some of its neighbors 
ill the same province." 

The enactments cited are fair samples of those which went 
to compose the English Colonial policy. They help to an 
understanding of the leading object, which was to limit 
Colonial America to a farming community. America was 
to play the part of India and Australia, as a cereal feeder of 
a little island whose commercial and manufacturing genius 
was far in excess of its ability to supply the necessaries of 
life for its working population. 

Of course the suspicion could not escape so inquiring a 
country, that America might prove as rich in raw materials, 
suited to English manufacture, as in farm products. There- 
fore the English policy, when fully developed, made Amer- 
ica a provider of food and of raw materials for England, 
England, the main market, would receive nothing manufac- 
tured in the colonies. England, the supreme country, 
would permit nothing to be manufactured in the colonies. 
England, the dominant commercial country, would permit 
no trade with the colonies, except in British bottoms, and 
of an agricultural surplus, or a raw material, in exchange for 
her own manufactured products. 

This was severe on the colonial agriculturist, who, not 
having a voice in the carrying trade, nor a say in what 
should come to him, could not thus early raise an agricultu- 
ral surplus sufficient to pay for what he was compelled to 
receive as an import. He could not manufacture, except as 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 2ii 

to the coarse things necessary for family use, and he could 
not have interchanged manufactures between the provinces 
by using the natural waterways nor by means of carts. 

The colonist paid nothing on his imports. They were 
free. The prohibition was on his exports, and especially if 
in manufactured shape. The prohibition was on his domes- 
tic change of manufactured articles. All inducement to 
manufacture was taken away. A home market for agri- 
cultural products, or for raw materials, was not to be en- 
couraged or tolerated. The plan was ingenious and most 
successful, so far as English manufacturers and capitalists 
were concerned. In 1771 colonial imports exceeded the 
exports by ^13,000,000, and as trade was more nearly barter 
than now, it may be said that the colonies incurred a debt 
to England of ^13,000,000 in 1771, which they had no visi- 
ble means of paying. 

It must not be supposed that the British policy was effect- 
ing all its objects. Nature and opportunity in America 
were entering their quiet protests. After the invention of 
the puddling furnace and rolling-mill by Henry Cort, we 
find the English statutes most rigid against the exportation 
of tools, utensils and artisans to foreign parts, as in 1785 and 
1799. Yet the first rolling-mill in America was built and 
started for Col. Isaac Meason, at Plumsock, Fayette county, 
Pa., by two Welshmen, Thomas and George Lewis, who 
came under the prohibited head of " British skilled iron- 
workers," and as such were compelled to smuggle their way 
across the Atlantic and into the colony of Penn. 

So, nature having provided excellent ship timber and the 
colonists having a genius for ship-building and sailing, they 
quietly established a remunerative trade with the West 
Indies and with many nations more or less remote. This 
was intolerable to the mother country. The Navigation 



itt2 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

Act was passed as a remedy. It provided that " No goods 
or commodities whatever, the growth, production or manu- 
facture of Europe, Africa or America, shall be imported 
into England or Ireland, or into any of the Plantations 
(American colonies), except in ships belonging to English 
subjects, of which the master and the greater number of the 
crew shall also be English." 

This and subsequent navigation acts destroyed our West 
India trade. Prices of goods imported and exported, and 
their quantities, fell entirely under English jurisdiction. All 
she sent to us was free of duty. All sent to her was upon 
her own conditions. Nothing could be sent, except in her 
bottoms, and to the destination and upon the terms she im- 
posed. As Burke said in Parliament, " By it (the Naviga- 
tion Act) the commerce of the colonies was not only tied, 
but strangled." 

Our Revolutionary history, familiar to every schoolboy, 
acquaints us with the English method of extracting revenue 
directly from her colonies by means of such inventions as 
the Stamp Act, the Tea Tax, etc. They were but parts of 
an ingenious and stupendous system of home protection 
which eventuated in established manufactures and commerce, 
and in a final declaration of independence of the rest of the 
world in these respects. 

Just here, the thought is foreign to neither the theme nor 
time, it may well be wondered why so astute a nation as 
Great Britain, after two hundred years of an attempt to 
make a simple wheat granary of America, and after the 
energies which followed American independence fully 
established the fact that such a granary was within reach, 
did not rather choose to take advantage of it, than fly to 
others in India and in the Islands of the sea, far more remote 
and far less obedient to the comities of trade. Did she 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 213 

scent the possibilities of American development and the rise 
of a iiome market, which would absorb the annual agri- 
cultural product, or at least create a demand from which her 
capital would shrink? 

A FIRST EXPERIMENT. 

After the treaty of 1783 which closed the Revolutionary- 
war and established Aiuerican Independence, up until 1789, 
the date of the first American Tariff Act, the ports of this 
country were open to the goods of all nations. Most of this 
time (to 1787) was the era of the Confederacy. This period 
was one during which the States were held together by very 
weak ties, by " a rope of sand " as one historian has it. 
They had conceded little in their " Articles of Confedera- 
tion," and had withheld entirely from the central government 
the right to regulate their commerce. Each State strove to 
secure trade for itself, and each imposed restrictions on 
foreign commerce as it saw fit, or left them unimposed. 
The consequence was that there was no concert of action. 
The condition which arose was worse than a free-trade con- 
dition, for one State was sure to nullify the commercial 
enactments of another, through jealousy or some other 
motive. 

When Pennsylvania imposed a slight tariff on certain 
classes of imports, New Jersey opened a free port at Bur- 
lington and flooded the city of Penn with smuggled goods. 
When New Jersey voted to impose a general tariff New 
York refused, and in revenge the free port of Paulus Hook 
began to supply New York with non-dutiable imports. 

Thus the States were a prey to one another. The states- 
men of the day saw how suicidal the policy, or rather, the 
lack of policy, was, and there was no one source of weak- 
ness that seemed so fatal, nor the lack of any vital principle 



214 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

that impelled so powerfully toward a more perfect constitu- 
tion than this commercial discord. Not even the flat refusal 
of New Jersey to comply with an Act of the Congress, nor 
the open offence of Massachusetts in raising trogps to crush 
Shay's rebellion, affected the public mind so forcibly and 
paved the way so directly toward a stronger central union, 
as the quarrel between Virginia and Maryland as to com- 
mercial rights on the Chesapeake and Potomac. This last 
brought the Annapolis convention in 1786. Hamilton, 
Madison and Dickinson were there, and they saw no way 
of preventing the subordination of the States to foreign in- 
fluence and their extinction as sovereign bodies, except by 
creating a stronger central government and endowing it with 
powers sufficient for the settlement of all such discords. 

It seemed to require some such mighty exigency to 
move the States to their second independence. There was 
nothing so supreme as the thought that colonial independ- 
ence meant escape from a discriminative and ruinous com- 
mercial policy on the part of Great Britain. Search the 
colonial debates through, and there is not one of moment 
that does not inveigh against the efforts of England to en- 
rich herself at the expense of other nations, and to complete 
her commercial and industrial supremacy by overriding 
their protective systems and sapping their powers for com- 
petitive and independent existence. The Declaration of 
Independence submits it to " a candid world " that Great 
Britain meant to establish " an absolute tyranny over these 
States " by " cutting off our trade with all parts of the world," 
and that among the foremost rights of a free people is the 
right to " establish commerce." 

Says a learned historian: "The most fatal defect of the 
Articles of Confederation was absence of power to collect 
revenue, regulate trade, encourage industry. The thoughts 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 215 

of all our early statesmen were turned to this defect, which 
to them was the more glaring, because of intimate acquaint- 
ance with the British system. So paramount was the 
necessity for escape from industrial and commercial de- 
pendence, and so momentous was deemed the power to pro- 
tect ourselves that Washington confidently looked to the 
trade regulations of a more efficient government as a means 
of giving the country its proper weight in the scale of em- 
pires and, with a feeling foreign to his better nature, he 
declared that such government " will surely impose retaliat- 
ing restrictions, to a certain degree, upon the trade of 
England." 

The proceedings of the Continental Congress abound in 
debates, resolutions and committees, having for their object 
the promotion of home products and the development of 
home resources. There seemed to be no question among 
the leaders of thought, so far as the debates show, of the 
right and duty of the government to foster industry by 
legislative enactment, nor of the necessity for a new govern- 
ment endowed with ample power to provide revenue through 
a tariff and at the same time protect its vital interests. 

But while this was all so in the minds of statesmen, the 
inchoate States were afloat on the sea of discord. They had 
industry, commerce, tariffs, in their own hands. There was 
no uniform import law, and consequently none at all. One 
State nullified the laws of another. They were, as Hamilton 
said, "jarring, jealous and perverse, fluctuating and unhappy 
at home, and weak by their dissensions in the eyes of other 
nations." 

A prey to one another, they were the natural victims of 
more knowing, designing, older, richer and advanced nations, 
and especially that one which sought to revenge defeat of 
arms by political segregation and commercial conquest. 



2i6 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

With intelligence and the instinct of self-preservation arrayed 
against free traffic with foreign nations, there existed the 
hard compulsion of circumstances to render the States help- 
less. Depleted by a long war, with few factories, mills and 
workshops, with limited means of recuperation, with thirteen 
hostile systems of commercial independence, they were at 
the entire mercy of the foreign merchant and manufacturer. 
There wa« absolutely no law against importations. The era 
was one of free-trade, uninterrupted by effective statute, 
unimpaired by anything except ineffective sentiment. 

The consequences must be faced. Says Carey : — " At the 
close of the Revolution the trade of America was free and 
unrestrained in the fullest sense of the term, according to 
the theory of Adam Smith, Say, Ricardo, the ' Edinburgh 
Reviewers ' and the authors of the ' Encyclopaedia.' Her 
ports were open, with scarcely any duties, to the vessels 
and merchandise of other nations." What befell ? As the 
States were discordant, foreign powers passed laws as they 
pleased to destroy our commerce. Nearly every foreign 
nation shipped goods into the country and dumped them 
promiscuously on our wharves. The consequences followed 
which never fail to follow such a state of things. Competi- 
tion on the part of our manufacturers was at an end. They 
were bankrupted and beggared. The merchants whose 
importations had ruined them were involved in calamity. 
Farmers, who had longed to buy foreign merchandise cheap, 
went down in the vortex of general destruction. 

Said a statesman of the day, " The people of America 
went to war to improve their condition and throw off the 
burdens which the colonial system laid on their industry. 
And when their independence was attained they found it 
was a piece of parchment. The arm which had struck for 
it in the field was palsied in the workshop. The industry 




II. .N l;n,,|.l; !> Mill,-, 

Born in Salem, Kentucky, in 1832; when seventeen years of age lie 
emigrated to Texas; he became a lawyer, and when twenty-seven years 
of a'ge was elected to the Texas Legislature; at the breaking out of the 
civiAvar lie joined the Southern army as Colonel of a regiment of 
infantry ; he was wounded a number of times, though not seriously, and, 
returning to his home at Corsicana, resumed the practice of his profes-^ 
sion; in 1872 he was elected to Congress on the Democratic ticket, and 
has been returned at every sul)sequent election. His majority at the 
last election was over 16,000; Mr. Mills was always a tariff reformer, 
and he was entrusted by Speaker Carlisle in the Fiftieth Congress with 
the task of framing a tariff bill, which was the issue of the campaign of 
1888, in which the Democrats were defeated ; Mr. MUls was a candi- 
date for Speaker for the present House, but Mr. Crisp secured the prize: 
elected to U. S. Senate, March 22, 1892, and re-elected for the full 
term in 1893. 




Wm. L. Wilson, 

Chairman of House Coininittee of Ways and Means and Author of 
the Wilson Tariff Bill. 

Born in Jeflerson co, Va., May 3, 1843 ; graduated from University 
of Virginia in 1860 ; served in the Confederate army ; for several years 
Professor in Columbian College; resigned and entered practice of law at 
Charlestown, W. Va.; elected President of West Virginia University in 
1882; elected to 49th, 50th, 51st, 52d and 53d Congresses; in latter Con- 
gress served as Chairman of Committee on Ways and Means ; father 
of the Wilson Tariff Bill ; nominated by President Cleveland as 
Postmaster-General, February 28, 1895, and took oath of office, April 
4, 1895. 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 219 

\\ hicli had been burdened in the colonies was crushed in the 
free States. A.t the close of the revolution the mechanics 
and manufacturers of the country found themselves, in the 
bitterness of their hearts, independent — and ntiiicd." 

Says Bancroft, of the year 1785, " It is certain that the 
English have the trade of these States almost wholly in 
their hands, whereby their influence must increase ; and a 
constantly increasing scarcity of money begins to be felt, 
since no ship sails to England without large sums of money 
aboard, especially the English packet boats, which monthly 
take with them between forty and fifty thousand pounds sterl- 
ing. The scarcity of money makes the produce of the country 
cheap, to the disappointment of farmers and the discourage- 
ment of husbandry. Thus the two classes, the farmer and 
the merchant, that divide nearly all America, are discon- 
tented and distressed." 

Said Webster of this period, in a speech delivered in 1833, 
" From the close of the war of the Revolution there came a 
period of depression and distress on the Atlantic Coast, such 
as the people had hardly felt during the crisis of the war 
itself Ship-owners, ship-builders, mechanics, artisans, all 
were destitute of employment and some of them destitute 
of bread. British ships came freely, and British ships came 
plentifully; while to American ships and American prod- 
ucts there was neither protection on the one side nor the 
equivalent of reciprocal free-trade on the other. The 
cheaper labor of England supplied the inhabitants of the 
Atlantic shores with ever)'thing. Ready-made clothes, 
among the rest, from the crown of the head to the soles of 
the feet, were for sale in every city. All these things came 
free from any general system of imposts. Some of the 
States attempted to establish their c»wn pr-raal systems, but 
they failed." 



220 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

There is no history of America covering this time b'lt 
what repeats the above views, over and over again, and if 
anything, in still more lugubrious terms. 

The situation simply affirmed what Lord Goderich said 
in Parliament : — " Other nations know that what we English 
mean by free-trade is nothing more nor less than, by means 
of the great advantages we enjoy, to get the monopoly of 
all the markets of other nations for our manufactures, and 
to prevent them, one and all, from ever becoming manufac- 
turing nations." 

With equal sincerity and emphasis David Syme, another 
member of Parliament, declared : — " In any quarter of the 
globe where competition shows itself as likely to interfere 
with English monopoly, immediately the capital of her 
manufacturers is massed in that particular quarter, and 
goods are exported there in large quantities, and sold at 
such prices that outside competition is immediately counted 
out. English manufacturers have been known to export 
goods to a distant market and sell them under cost for years 
with a view of getting the market into their own hands 
again, and keep that foreign market, and step in for the 
whole when prices revive." 

END OF THE FREE-TRADE ERA. 

It became manifest to even the dullest mind that America 
was about to lose her political independence in the mire of 
industrial and commercial subserviency. Says Mason : — 

" Depreciation seized upon every species of property. 
Legal pressure to enforce payment of debts caused alarming 
sacrifices of both personal and real-estate ; spread distress far 
and wide among the masses of the people ; aroused in the 
hearts of the sufferers the bitterest feelings against lawyers, 
the courts and the whole creditor class; led to a popular 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 22 r 

clamor for stay-laws and various other radical measures of 
supposed relief, and finall)- filled the whole land with excite- 
ment, apprehension and sense of weakness and a tendency 
to despair of the Republic. Inability to pay even necessary 
taxes became general, and often these could be collected 
only by levy and sale of the homestead." 

Figures began to pile up and to tell their awful tale. In 
1784-85, imports from Great Britain alone swelled to 
;$30,ooo,000, while our exports reached barely ^9,000,000. 
In Hildreth's history we read : " The large importation ol 
foreign goods, subject to little or no duty, and sold at peace 
prices, was proving ruinous to all those domestic manufac- 
tures and mechanical employments which the non-consump- 
tion agreements and the war had created and fostered. 
Immediately after the peace, the country had been flooded 
with imported goods, and debts had been unwarily con- 
tracted, for which there was no means to pay." 

In Maine a Convention was held for the purpose of revolt- 
ing from Massachusetts on account of the prevailing distress. 
In New Hampshire the people surrounded the Legislative 
hall and declared the body should not adjourn till it passed 
a measure to absolve the people from debt. Shay's rebellion 
in Massachusetts was but a protest against suffering on the 
part of the people. In speaking of its causes Hildreth says : 
— "The want of a certain and remunerative market for the 
produce of the farmer, and the depression of domestic manu- 
factures by competition from abroad." 

In Connecticut alone five hundred farms were offered for 
sale to pay taxes. The condition was the same in Pennsyl- 
vania and the Carolinas. Real estate found no market. 
Debtors were compelled to close out at one-fourth the value 
of their lands. Men distrusted one another. The best 
securities were offered at half their face value. 



222 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

At length the newspapers of the period, without regard to 
party, began to clamor for change. Pamphleteers arose with- 
out number, and joined in the cry of necessity for a change. 
Merchants, business men, farmers, artisans, laborers echoed 
the universal sentiment : — " We have had enough of free- 
trade. It has but one meaning for America, and that is 
utter neglect of ourselves and the forced sale of our ener- 
gies, opportunities and resources to the older and better 
equipped nations. We have won political independence at 
a cost of seven years of war, we have yet to win the still 
longer battle for industrial and commercial independence, 
or else the victory of foreign nations over us will be greater 
than our recent victory over them." 

Every one saw what was patent to John Stuart Mill, and 
what he incorporated into his " Principles of Political Econ- 
omy," that: "What prevented the rapid recuperation of the 
United States, after the peace of 1783, was the system of 
free foreign trade, allowed to add its devastations upon in- 
dustry to those of the Revolution." 

Educated by a dreadful experience, it became the convic- 
tion of all parties that the power of industrial and commer- 
cial protection, so conspicuously and fatally absent in the 
Articles of Confederation, must repose somewhere. No 
other thought impelled more powerfully toward a Union of 
States under a Federal Constitution. " Four causes," says 
Bancroft, " above others, exercised a steady and commanding 
influence. The New Republic, as one nation, must have 
pozvcr to regulate its foreign commerce ; to colonise its large 
domain ; to provide an adequate revenue ; to establish justice 
in domestic trade by prohibiting the separate States from 
impairing the obligation of contracts." 

From this time on till the Constitution became a fact, 
September 17, 1787, or rather, until the Government became 



HISTORY OP AMERICAN TARIFFS. 223 

a fact, April 30, 1789, a unanimous political and business 
sentiment persistently and eloquently urged a stronger 
government, imbued with the paternal instinct, able and will- 
ing to defend and encourage home industries and interests. 
State responded to State in this behalf; statesmen echoed 
the complaints and arguments of statesmen. Every politi- 
cal school joined in the pleas for industrial and commercial 
independence. One of the most assuring phases of the 
situation was the entire unanimity of artificeis, mechanics 
and working men, who gathered in large assemblies, and by 
means of public speeches, whose logic was even more forci- 
ble than those of learned statesmen, and by printed resolu- 
tions of great vigor and aptness, demanded exemption from 
the degrading and ruinous competition forced upon them by 
the free and inordinate influx of foreign goods, upon whose 
manufacture they depended for a living. 

Under these auspices the New Constitution took shape, 
and Clause 1 of Section VIII. provided that " Congress 
shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts 
and excises, and to pay the debts and provide for the 
common defence and general welfare of the United States." 

In order to achieve what was equally important in an in- 
dustrial and commercial sense, viz., perfect interchange of 
goods and products between the States themselves, or in 
other words " free-trade " between all the inhabitants of the 
Union, it was ordained that Congress should never have the 
power to levy " a tax or duty on articles exported from any 
State." 

Thus endowed, the New Government started on its career. 
The writers of the Federalist, Hamilton, Madison and others, 
saw in the above clauses sufficient power to remedy the 
evils complained of, and they eloquently assured their -oun- 



224 HISTORY OI^ AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

trymen that tlie protection they demanded for their infant in- 
dustries could now be given beyond doubt. 

Says Bishop : " That the productive classes regarded the 
Constitution of 1 787 as conferring the power and right of 
protection to the infant manufactures of the country is mani- 
fest from the jubilant feeling excited in various quarters 
upon the public ratification of that instrument." 

THE FIRST TARIFF ACT. 

The first petition presented to the First Congress, in 
March, 1789, came from 700 mechanics and tradesmen of 
Baltimore. It lamented the decline of manufactures since 
the Revolution, and praj^ed that the efficient Government 
with which they were, for the first time, blessed, would 
render the country " independent iii fact as well as in name " 
by early attention to the encouragement and protection of 
American manufactures and by imposing on " all foreign 
articles winch could not be made in America such duties as 
wojild give a decided preference to their labors!' 

Leagues of artisans and tradesmen, merchants and manu- 
facturers were formed in all the leading cities and industrial 
centres for the purpose of urging on Congress an early in- 
terpretation of the new powers conferred by the Constitu- 
tion in the interest of industry and commerce. Charleston 
shipwrights followed the Baltimore artisans with a powerful 
petition to the First Congress. Similar petitions came in 
from Boston, New York and Philadelphia. 

As already stated, the universal sentiment of the hour 
was that the Constitution gave Congress ample power to 
regulate commerce by a tariff for revenue, for protection or 
for prohibition, as the case might be. The words " for the 
regulation of commerce" had a well-understood meaning 
among American statesmen. They were the words used in 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 225 

English enactments when Hke objects were in view and 
when Hke powers were conferred, and they had been in- 
terpreted so often both on the bench and in actual practice 
that rational dissent to their meaning was out of the ques- 
tion. Hamilton, Franklin, Madison, Jefferson, Monroe, ac- 
corded perfectly as to the nature of the power and the ob- 
ject of the clause. Gallatin said that on his entrance into 
public life he found but one sentiment respecting the clause 
among statesmen. There was then no such objection as 
afterwards arose, and still exists, and which is to the effect 
that a power to raise revenue by a tariff does not carry the 
power to protect home manufactures and industries. 

Said Washington in his first annual message, " The safety 
and interest of a free people require that they promote such 
manufactures as tend to render them independent of others 
for essentials, particularly military supplies." 

The question of a tariff was thus injected into the First 
Congress, and became the first theme for discussion. It was 
a Congress which embraced many farmers, merchants and 
manufacturers, an industrial rather than professional Con- 
gress, though, of course, containing many illustrious lawyers 
and statesmen. That first great question thrust upon it has 
survived all others, and is as momentous to-day as ever. 
The other class of questions which drew fiercer, but not 
more learned, discussion, such as nullification, the national 
bank, slavery, secession, reconstruction, has happily found a 
grave. 

After the passage of a bill regulating the oath of office, 
the Congress took up the tariff bill, and it became the first 
general Act of the First Congress. Its preamble fore- 
shadowed its purport : " Whereas, it is necessary for the 
support of the Government, for the discharge of the debt 
of the United States, and for the encouragement and pro- 



226 HLSTORV OI^ AMERICAN TARIEES. 

tection of manufactures, that duties be laid on imported 
goods, therefore be it enacted," etc. 

This preamble drew no dissent. Statesmen North and 
South gave it sanction. The bill itself drew the widest 
range of debate, and the learning brought into the discus- 
sion of its merits has never been surpassed in considering 
the same subject, though of course facts, statistics and ex- 
perience have changed the lines of argument, and remodelled 
theories. This learning not only bore on all the economic 
phases of the question, as then understood, but it was ex- 
haustive of the principle that the Constitution designed to 
secure to the infant manufactures and struggling industries 
of the country the protection they needed against the riper 
experience and cheaper labor of Europe. 

The debates upon this bill were not as to the necessity 
for protection, nor as to the fact that the legislation pro- 
posed was or was not in principle the best for the purpose. 
They were rather upon the question of general method of 
procedure, and as to whether or not the States might be 
robbed of some of their reserved rights if too liberal a con- 
struction were thus early put upon the Constitution. The 
question of what rate of duty would raise the required 
revenue And what would insure the needed protection was 
also a novel one and the subject of animated discussion, as 
it broke entirely new ground, and was beyond the range of 
all precedents and experience. Among the leading debaters 
were James Madison, Richard Henry Lee, Charles Carroll, 
Rufus King, Oliver Ellsworth, Fisher Ames, Roger Sher- 
man, James Trumbull, and others, and these all impressed 
their genius and wisdom on the First American Tariff Act. 

The Act became a law by the signature of Washington, 
affixed July 4, 1789. The rates of duty provided by the 
Act were, in modern acceptation, ridiculously low, yet as 



HISTORY OF AIMRRICAN TARIFFS. 227 

the legislation was entirely experimental, and as there were 
no precedents to steer by, there was general acquiescence in 
the provisions, not only as insuring revenue but as estab- 
lishing protection. The class of articles subjected to duty 
is the best guide to the spirit of the Act. It imposed the 
highest duties on those manufactures and industries which 
were deemed most in need and most worthy of encourage- 
ment. They embraced the iron and steel of Pennsylvania ; 
the glass of Maryland ; the cotton, indigo and tobacco of 
the Southern States ; the wool, leather, paper and fisheries 
of the Eastern States. There was hardly an article intro- 
duced into it whose freedom from foreign competition had 
not been petitioned for, and the desirability of whose home 
growth or manufacture had not been made clear to the 
majority in Congress. 

A powerful spur to the passage of this Act had been the 
oft-repeated boa.'^t of Great Britain that while America had 
achieved political independence, it had been reconquered 
commercially, and was a more abject and useful appendage 
than before. It was therefore quite natural that the friends 
of the Act, and those who hoped most from its provisions, 
should regard it as in the nature of a second Declaration 
of Independence, and as far more valuable to the Govern- 
ment and the people for the spirit it evinced and the possi- 
bilities it contained, than for the rates of duty it established. 

Tliis Act was followed the next year, 1790, by Hamilton's 
lengthy and able report upon " Commerce and Manufac- 
tures." This report was designed to emphasize the prin- 
ciple of protective legislation. It embraced all the learning 
and experience of the older nations bearing upon the sub- 
ject, and it served the purpose of reconciling an almost 
universal party sentiment to the operations of the Act of 
1789, while it more than ever committed the budding nation 



228 HISTORY OT^ AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

to the doctrine he advocated. It was in this report that he 
enunciated the principle which protectionists of to-day clain; 
to be fully proved by experience, to wit, that internal compe- 
tition is an effectual corrective of monopoly, and in the end 
tends to a lower scale of prices for protected manufactures 
than prevailed for foreign. His interpretation of the powers 
conferred on the Government by the clause of the Consti- 
tution relating to taxes, revenue and the common defence 
has been accepted by all political parties, and it now pre- 
vails without regard to party lines. 

This Act of 1789 and this report of 1790 form the begin- 
ning of an historic and practical protective era in the United 
States. It was an era which lasted, under varying condi- 
tions, which we shall note, up until 18 16. 

The previous session of the First Congress had been an 
extra one. It was now, January 4, 1790, in First Regular 
Session at Philadelphia and had received Hamilton's cele- 
brated report. Federals and Anti-Federals divided over the 
payment of the debts, especially those of the States, and the 
doctrine of open or close construction of the Constitution 
was fast shaping up political lines. However, there was 
very little division of sentiment on the propriety of increas- 
ing the rates of duty provided by the Act of July 4, 1789, 
and they were increased by the Act of August 10, 179O, 
which went into effect January I, 1791. 

During the Second Session of the First Congress, which 
opened October 24, 1791, at Philadelphia, there was much 
excitement owing to opposition to the Excise Laws of the 
previous session and the rebellion against them in Pennsyl- 
vania, k'nown as the" Whiskey Rebellion." The animosities 
thus aroused served to widen the gap between the Federals 
and Anti-Federals, but not enough to defeat further tariff 
legislation. The Act of May 2, 1792, was passed without 



HISTORY OP AIMERICAN TARIFFS, 229 

niuch difficulty. It took effect July i, 1792, and it increased 
the ad valorem rates of duty from 2}^ to 5 per cent. This 
was the third Tariff Act in three years, and the drift of legisla- 
tion was in favor of higher and more protective duties. 

During the First Session of the Third Congress which 
met December 2, 1793, party lines became still more distinct 
over matters of tariff legislation. The Anti-Federals had 
now taken the name of Republicans, and, though without a 
definite policy of their own, found means of coherence and 
growth in opposing Federal doctrines. Yet it was a com- 
paratively easy matter to pass the Tariff Act of June 7, 1794, 
which took effect July i, 1794. All parties were agreed as 
to the necessity of providing additional revenue, which the 
increased ad valorem rates in the Act were designed to 
secure. All parties were also agreed that a tariff was the 
quietest and easiest way of attaining such revenue, and the 
Anti-Federals, or Republicans, who had violently opposed 
the excise laws, were even more fully committed to a tariff 
as a revenue measure than the Federals. They, however, 
began to draw the line when the doctrine of protection was 
broached. Not all, of course, but a few whose strict con- 
struction notions dominated their economic views. 

The next tariff legislation was the Act of May 13, 1800, 
which took effect July i, 1800. This legislation was not 
difficult and was still in the line of protective duties. It 
raised the duties on sugar half a cent a pound and on silks 
2^2. per cent. 

On March 26, 1804, an amended Tariff Act was passed 
which took effect July 1, 1804. It must be remembered 
that now the country had undergone a political revolution, 
that the Republicans were in power in Congress and that 
Jefferson was President. Yet the Tariff Act of 1804 was in 
the line of increased duties. 



230 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

All the Acts thus far were amendatory of the orig'inal Act 
of 1789, and were helpful of the provisions and operations 
of that Act. As sufficient time had elapsed to form opinions 
of the workings of that Act, or in otlier words, to witness 
the effects of incorpoiating protective tariff legislation into 
oui institutions, it will be profitable to turn to the sentiment 
of the times respecting it. 

In his seventh annual message, Washington said : — " Our 
agriculture, commerce and manufactures prosper bc\'ond 
example. Every part of the Union displays indications of 
rapid and various improvement, and with burdens so light 
as scarcely to be perceived." 

John Adams in his last annual message said : — " I observe 
with much satisfaction that the product of the revenue dur- 
ing the present year is more considerable than at any former 
period." 

Thomas Jefferson in his second annual message said : — 
" To protect the manufactures adapted to our circumstances 
is one of the land-mar]<s by which we should guide our- 
selves." 

The provisions of the Act of 1789 and its amendments 
had, in their practical workings, so far exceeded expecta- 
tions, that in 1 806 Jefferson found the revenues more than 
ample for the requirements of the Government. In speak- 
ing of the surplus he said in his sixth annual message: — 
" Shall we suppress the imposts and give that advantage to 
fcjreign over our domestic manufactures? On a few articles 
of more general and necessary use, the suppression, in due 
season, will doubtless be right, but the great mass of the 
articles on which imposts are laid are foreign luxuries, 
purchased only by the rich, who can afford themselves the 
use of them." 

In 1809 he wrote to Humphrey thus : — " My own idea is 



HIvSTORY OP AMERICAN TARIFFS. 231 

that we should encourage home manufactures to the extent 
of our own home consumption of everything of which we 
raise the raw materials." 

Said Madison in his special message of May 23, 1809: — 
" It will be worthy of the just and provident care of Congress 
to make such further alterations in the laws as will more 
especially protect and foster the several branches of manu- 
factures which have been recently instituted or extended by 
the laudable exertions of our citizens." 

Says Ilarriman in writing of the Tariff of 1789: — "Agri- 
culture became niore extensive and prosperous ; Commerce 
increased with wonderful rapidity; old industries were re- 
vived and many new ones established ; our merchant navy 
revived and multiplied ; all branches of domestic trade pros- 
pered ; our revenues exceeded the wants of government ; 
the people became contented and industrious ; the whole 
country was on the high road to wealth and prosperity." 

THE EMBARGO AND TARIFF OF l8l2. 

Now while many provisions in the Tariff Acts up to 1808 
embraced the protective doctrine, such as duties on hemp, 
cordage, glass, nails, salt and various manufactures of iron, 
as has been noted the duties were low, according to present 
standards. Protection of the textiles and of unmanufactured 
iron had not been much thought of But they were soon 
to draw attention and become the great subjects of the pro- 
tective controversy. 

The year... 1808 marks a turning-point in the industrial 
history of our country. The Berlin and Milan decrees of 
Napoleon and the English Orders in Council led to th& 
Embargo Act of December, 1807. The Non-Intercourse 
Act followed it in 1809. War was declared against Great 



232 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

Britain in i8i2. On July i, i8i2,the Tariff Act was passed, 
which became a law immediately. 

The passage of this Act was strongly urged by Madison 
in his message to the Twelfth Congress : — " As a means to 
preserve and promote the manufactures which have sprung 
into existence and attained an unparalleled maturity through- 
out the United States during the period of the European 
wars." The younger leaders of the Republican party took 
up Madison's request and were prepared to go to any length 
to grant it. Calhoun and Lowndes joined their logic to 
Clay's eloquence in favor of the doctrine that protection to 
home industries should no longer occupy a place secondary 
to the revenue idea. South Carolina became the highest 
protection State in the Union, England having levied a duty 
on raw cotton. The entire Republican party swung away 
from its strict construction notions and became such liberal 
interpreters as that they quoted with the utmost favor the 
report of Hamilton upon which the earlier Tariff Acts were 
based. The Federals were dazed with the situation, and, 
failing to see anything good in their opponents, quite forgot 
their own traditions, and swung, under the lead of Webster, 
quite to the anti-protection side of the controversy. 

Out of the confused situation came the "American Idea" 
and the Whig party, which was Clay's outlet from the strict 
construction columns. TheTariff Act of the session — a Re- 
publican, or, as some have it, a Democratic Act — marks 
the highest rates of duty reached from the foundation 
of the government up till 1842. It practically doubled the 
rates existing before. Sugar went from 2^ cents per pound 
to 5 cents; coffee from 5 cents to 10 cents; tea from 18 
cents to 36; pig iron from 17^ per cent, to 30 per cent.; 
bar iron from 17^ per cent, to 30; glass from 22)^ per 
cent, to 40; manufactures of cotton from 17^ per cent, to 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 233 

30 ; woolens from 17 per cent, to 30; silk from 15 per cent, 
to 25. 

The Embargo Act of 1808, the Non-Intercourse Act of 
1 809, and the highly protective Tariff Act of 1 8 1 2, constituted 
a series of restrictive measures which had the efficacy of 
prohibitive duties. They gave an enormous stimulus to all 
branches of industry whose products had before been im- 
ported. Establishments for the manufacture of cottons, 
woolens, iron, glass, pottery and other articles, sprang up 
as if by magic. The success of this extreme protection 
formed the basis of that powerful movement which subse- 
quently became the heritage of the Whig party, and which 
had for its object the decided limitation of foreign competi- 
tion both as to manufactures and commerce. 

TARIFF ACT OF 1816. 

The logic of the Tariff Act of 18 16 is not understood by 
economists, nor can it be accounted for by any one except 
upon the theory that having passed through a war, the 
country would probably settle back into some such condi- 
tion as existed prior to 1808. The controlling element in 
Congress was still the young element, the element respon- 
sible for the war and therefore responsible for its results. 
They had proven themselves avowed protectionists by the 
passage of the Tariff Act of 18 12, and by the favor with which 
tliey regarded the new manufactures which had arisen. 
They were still willing to assist them, for they clung to fair 
duties in the Act of April 27, 18 16, on those goods in 
which the most interest was felt, as in textile fabrics. 

But here the fatality which overhung the Act came in. 
Cotton and woolen goods were to pay a duty of 25 per cent. 
— a protective duty — till 18 19. After that they were to pay 
20 per cent. On some other classes of goods the dutie.<i- 



234 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TAPari^S. 

were decreased directly, on others increased. As to the 
textiles, Calhoun urged strongly the argument in favor of 
protecting young industries, and at the same time limiting- 
the protection, after a period when they ought to be on their 
feet. 

As a whole the Act of 1816 was protective, but it looked 
to a period only three years off, when it would no longer be 
so. This was its misfortune. It prepared foreign nations 
for our market. Though our breadstuffs, provisions, cotton 
and every product of the soil were high in price ; though 
wages and rents were high ; the currency was very weak 
and unsettled. Home competition had reduced the price 
of our manufactured products. The manufacturers of Great 
Britain found their warehouses bursting with wares. They 
looked with awe on the American situation, which revealed 
to them the fact that our home industries had robbed them 
of a market. This must not be. Those industries are only 
tentative. By 18 19, when the duties of 18 16 reach their 
minimum, they can no longer survive. We will begin the 
crushing process now. Said Lord Brougham in the House 
of Commons, " It is well worth while to incur a loss upon 
our first exportation, in order, by the glut, to stifle in the 
cradle, those infant manufactures in the United States, which 
the war has forced into existence." 

Great Britain began to unload her surplus manufactures 
upon our shores at far below cost. They were goods that 
were not new, nor fashionable, nor in demand at home. The 
protective features of the Act of 18 16 were insufficient to 
stay the flood. More than twice the quantity were imported 
that could be consumed. Great depression in business set 
m Bankruptcy became general. The near approach of 
1 8 19, when the minimum rates of duty should go into effect, 
but encouraged the inflow of foreign products. Say^ 




Born at Lewiston, Me., September 2,1831; graduated at Bowdoin 
College, 1850; educated for the bar; elected to State Legislature, 1861, 
1862, 1867; Mayor of Lewiston, 1866-67; Attorney-General, 1867-68' 
69; member of Republican National Executive Committee, 1872-76- 
80; Presidential Elector, 1864; Delegate to Republican National Con- 
ventions, 1872-76-80 ; elected member of 42d, 43d, 44ih, 45lli, 46th 
and 47th Congresses ; elected to succeed James G. Blaine in United 
States Senate in 1880; re-elected Senator in 1883,1888 and 1895; 
Chairman of Committee on Commerce, and a member of Committee on 
Foreign Rdations, and other important Committees. 





David TriiPiK. 

Admitted to practice at Logansport, Ind., 1849; Judge of Common 
Pleas, 1854, and of Circuit Court, 1856, Iioth of which he resigned ; 
inemher of Ind. Legislature, 1853 and 1858; elected to U. S. Senate, 
1863, for unexpired term of Jesse D. Bright ; member of Ind. Gen. 
Assembly and Speaker of body, 1874-75 ; Commissioner for Revision of 
Indiana Laws; U. S. Dist. Atty., 1886-87; Delegate-nt-Large to Dem. 
Convention, 1888; elected U. S. Senator, 1887 and 1893; member of 
Committees on Census, Foreign Relations, Land Claims, Privileges and 
Elections, Transportation, and U. S. University. 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 237 

Thomas H. Benton, " No price for property ; no sales ex- 
cept those of the sheriff and marshal ; no purchasers at 
execution sales save the creditor or some money hoarder ; 
no employment for industry; no sale for the products of the 
farm ; no sound of the hammer save that of the auctioneer 
knocking down property. Distress was the universal cry 
of the people ; relief, the universal demand, was thundered 
at the doors of Legislatures, State and Federal." 

This condition of affairs appalled Congress and brought 
about the Tariff Act of 18 18, which simply extended the 
already ineffective provisions of the Act of 18 16 for a period 
of seven years and placed some few free articles on the duti- 
able list. It did not prove remedial to the extent expected 
and the panic of 1817-19 extended over a period of several 
years. 

TARIFF ACT OF 1 824. 

The sad condition of affairs, before described, rendered 
relief necessary. The liberal side of the Republican party 
held the ascendant in the Eighteenth Congress, December 
1, 1823, and elected Clay Speaker of the House. In his 
message, President Monroe not only announced the cele- 
brated " Monroe Doctrine," but inclined to the popular 
faction of his party on matters of protection and internal 
revenue. He urgently recommended " additional protection 
to those articles which we are prepared to manufacture." 

A bill was framed and debated for two months. Calhoun 
who had deserted Clay, Daniel Webster and John Randolph, 
led the free-trade forces. Andrew Jackson and James 
Buchanan were among the strongest advocates of the bill. 
It did not fix rates as high as the Act of 18 12, but it recog- 
nized the doctrine of protection more distinctly than any 
former Act. The strict constructionists urged their old 
argument against the constitutionality of protection and, for 



238 HIvSTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

the first time in our history, supplemented it with the argu- 
ment that a protective tariff was unfair to the South. As 
the hues shaped up they presented almost a solid array of 
Southern against a solid array of Northern States. 

The bill passed by a close vote, May 22, 1824, and it 
fully engrafted the " American System " on our national 
politics. It fixed a duty on sugar of 3 cents per pound ; 
coffee, 5 cents; tea, 25 cents; salt, 20 cents; pig-iron, 20 
per cent. ; bar-iron, ^30 per ton ; glass, 30 per cent, and 3 
cents a pound; manufactures of cotton, 25 per cent. ; wool- 
ens, 30 per cent. ; silk, 25 per cent. 

The financial and industrial situation responded promptly 
to this Act. There was such a pronounced betterment of 
affairs that the friends of the Act were encouraged to try 
their hand at further legislation in the line of protection. 

TARIFF OF 1828. 

In the Twentieth Congress the Democrats (formerly Re- 
publicans) were in a majority. They were divided, how- 
ever, over a Protective Tariff. Those of the Northern States 
united with the National Republicans (Whigs) and brought 
about the Tariff Act of May 19, 1828. It was largely a 
Jackson measure, who had carried New York, Pennsylvania 
and Illinois, on his protective tariff record. 

This Act of 1828 had little peculiar about it, except that 
it increased the duty on woolens and few raw materials, in- 
cluding wool. Yet it proved to be one of the most moment- 
ous Tariff Acts in our history. (i) It emphasized the 
" American Idea " by introducing protection in every change 
of the Act of 1824. (2) It was the turning-point of the 
hitherto hostile New England sentiment, Webster having 
changed ground and entered on its advocacy. (3) The 
South entirely sectionalized its opposition to it, and justified 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 239 

nullification of it as a blow at the planting interests, as a dis- 
crimination against unpaid labor, and as unconstitutional. 

Of the operations of the two protective Acts of 1824 and 
1828, Jackson said in his message of 1832 : — Our country 
presents on every side marks of prosperity and happiness, 
unequalled perhaps in any portion of the world." Webster 
said : — " The relief was profound and general, reaching all 
classes — farmers, manufacturers, ship-owners, mechanics, 
day laborers." Clay said : — " If the term of seven years 
were selected to measure the greatest prosperity of this 
people since the establishment of the Constitution, it would 
be exactly that period of seven years which immediately 
followed the passage of the Tariff Act of 1824." 

TARIFF ACT OF 1 832. 

The Tariff Act of 1828 led to bitter party and sectional 
turmoil. The South was bitterly opposed to it. It had be- 
come a kind of fashion to prepare for a National Campaign 
by amending the Tariff Act. An Act passed May, 1830, 
which scaled considerably the rates of duty of the Act of 
1828, proved unsatisfactory, because it did not eliminate the 
protective features of that Act. The nullifying sentiment of 
the South demanded the repudiation of the protective policy 
and the affirmation of the free-trade policy by the govern- 
ment. It was a powerful sentiment and must be appeased, 
else Jackson could not hope to succeed himself. 

Hence the Tariff Act of 1832, which reduced the rates of 
duty considerably and placed coffee and tea on the free list. 
It failed of its purpose, because it contained no repudiation 
of the protective idea. Nullification set in all the same and 
South Carolina, November 19, 1832, declared the Tariff Acts 
of 2828 and 1832 "null and void." 



240 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

TARIFF ACT OF 1 83 3. 

The Twenty-second Congress — December 3, 1832 — at its 
second session, had to meet the question of Nullification. It 
passed the "Force Bill," which enabled Jackson to collect 
the duties under the Act of 1832, and then it changed the 
tenor of the Act by the Compromise Act introduced by 
Henry Clay, passed March 2, 1833, and designed to show 
to the nullifiers that the protectionists were not necessarily 
their enemies. It had the weakness of all compromises, and 
was immediately heralded by the nullifiers as their vindica- 
tion, as a surrender of the " American System " and as a 
justification of South Carolina. It did not enact anything 
affirmatively, but took the tariff of 1832 as a basis, and 
scaled its rates by biennial reductions, till at the end of ten 
years a uniform rate of not exceeding 20 per cent, should pre- 
vail. This was ingenious and gradual repeal of a protective 
Act and a practical abandonment of the protective principle. 
It was notice to the people and was accepted as such by all 
foreign countries, that the United States had repudiated its 
earlier policy of protection. Henceforth the tariff was fully 
afloat on the sea of politics. 

A very few biennial reductions brought the rates of the 
tariff of 1832 to where they were no longer protective, and 
there came an inundation of foreign goods as in 181 7-19. 
Financial depression followed. Prices fell; production 
diminished ; workmen became idle ; farm products found no 
market ; public revenue fell off 25 per cent. ; the government 
had to borrow at a ruinous discount in order to pay current 
expenses. The nation was in the midst of the calamitous 
panic of 1837 — worse even than that of 1818-19. Aside 
from the moral strain of the disaster, the money loss was 
estimated at ;^ i ,000,000,000. 



I 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 241 

TARIFF OF 1842. 

The drift of popular sentiment was entirely away from 
Van Buren, 1837-1841. Tiie Whi^s took the lead and 
nominated Wilhain Henry Harrison, in December, 1839, 
without a platform. The Democrats renominated Van 
Ruren in May, 1840, and placed him on an elaborate plat- 
form which contained the plank: — "Justice and sound 
policy forbids the government to foster one branch of indus- 
try to the detriment of another, or one section to the injur\- 
of another." It also contained a plank which lead : — " The 
Constitution does not confer the right on the government 
to carry on a system of internal improvements." 

Harrison was elected President and the Congress had a 
Whig majority of six in the Senate and twenty-five in the 
House. Harrison died in just one month after his inaugura- 
tion, April 4, 1 84 1, and T)'ler became President. It was 
well known that he was not a protectionist. The Whigs 
enacted the Tariff Act of August 30, 1842, in obedience to 
a popular demand. The debates on it were acrimonious 
and, as to the opponents, involved the old arguments of 
1828 and 1832, against the constitutionality of protection 
and the right to nullify an Act of Congress. It passed, 
however, and President TylCi vetoed it, giving as a reason 
that it violated the compromise of 1833, which, as to pro- 
tection and revenue, was to run till 1842, and, as to non-dis- 
crimination against the planting interests, was practically 
without time. This Act contained pronounced protective 
features. Another Act was passed, without protective feat- 
ures, but with a clause providing for the distribution of any 
surplus that might arise to the States. This too was vetoed. 
A third Act was passed without the surplus clause. Tiiis 
became the Tariff Act of August 10, 1842. 



H2 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

It found, under the operation of the ScaHng Act of 1833, 
a uniform duty of 20 per cent. This it changed, by raising- 
cotton goods to 30 per cent.; woolens to 40 per cent.; 
silks to ^2.50 per pound ; bar-iron to ^25 per ton ; pig-iron 
to $g per ton ; sugar to 2}4 cents per pound. Tea and 
coffee remained free. Clay and Calhoun, who were 
together in the Compromise of 1833, were antagonists over 
this Act of 1842. This was the Twenty-seventh Congress. 

The Act of 1842 was so shorn of its original features that 
it could scarcely be called protective, but such as it was it 
sufficed to lift the cloud of depression and introduce an era 
of prosperity which had not been witnessed since 1832, 
Business revived. Factories began to operate. Customs 
receipts rose and put the Government in possession of mucli 
needed revenue. Labor sprang into demand. Farm pro- 
duce rose in price. A large demand arose for iron, wool, 
cotton, coal, and through competition in manufactures, and 
the introduction of labor-saving machinery, the prices of 
manufactured articles were cheaper than ever before. Roads, 
canals, ships, returned a profit. Corporations, States, and 
even the general Government, rose from bankruptcy to high 
credit. Said President Polk in his message of 1846, "Labor 
in all its branches is receiving ample reward. The progress 
of our country in resources and wealth and in the happy 
condition of our people, is without example in the history 
of nations." 

THE TARIFF ACT OF 1 846. 

The National Whig Convention of 1844 introduced thij 
plank into its platform: — "A tariff for revenue, discriminat- 
ing with reference to protection of domestic labor." The 
Democrats reaffirmed their opposition to protection, as in 
the platform of 1840, though they went to the country on 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 243 

the cry of " Polk, Dallas and the Tariff of 1842." The elec- 
tion of Polk and a Democratic House favored the passage, 
in the Twenty-ninth Congress, of a Tariff Act which should 
repeal or modify that of 1842, for it was known that the 
South was bent on such repeal. But northern Democrats 
refused to bow to the situation. Debate took a sectional 
turn. Northern Democrats pleaded the promises of the 
campaign, not to interfere with the Tariff of 1842. They 
were overruled. The Act of July 30, 1846, passed the 
House, which had a Democratic majority of 61 votes. In 
the Senate, which had a Democratic majority of five, it met 
with a tie, and the tie was broken by the casting vote of 
George M. Dallas, Vice-President, who voted in favor of the 
measure. The Act of 1846 reduced the rates of 1842, from 
5 to 25 per cent., introduced the theory of general advalorcm 
duties, and affirmed the doctrine of revenue without incident 
protection. It was a disappointing Act to Northern Demo- 
crats and Whigs, and while it was far removed from the 
promises of the campaign, it nevertheless fitted in with the 
National platform. 

While the reduced tariff of 1846, and the means by which 
such reduction was secured, led to that revulsion of public 
sentiment which culminated in the Whig successes of 1848, 
the country happily escaped for a time the disasters which 
had followed, quickly and inevitably, former tariff reduc- 
tions. 

The Mexican war (1846-48) created an extra demand for 
munitions and supplies estimated at over $100,000,000. 

The discovery of gold in California (1849) increased the 
demand for labor, agricultural products, mining materials 
and shipping; and sent for ten years ^55,000,000 a year in 
gold into the country. 

The European countries were in revolution (1848-51). 



244 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

Their agricultural and manufacturing industries were para- 
lyzed. They could not export; on the contrary required 
food supplies. 

The Crimean war followed, involving all Europe, and 
creating an extraordinary demand for American breadstuffs. 

The Irish famine occurred and added to the demand for 
additional breadstuffs. 

From 1846 to 1856 these adventitious aids to the indus- 
tries and trade of the United .States proved to be better than 
any protective agency that might have been sought through 
forms of tariff laws. But unfortunately they were foreign 
to sober enactment and any economic principle. They came 
and went without regard to our domestic situation, our com- 
fort or discomfort, our weal or woe. 

By 1854 the true economic condition began to assert 
itself. Foreign imports reappeared in our marts in amazing 
quantities and at demoralizing prices. The crises abroad 
being over, our exports declined. Manufactories suspended 
operations, being unable to compete with the supply from 
abroad. 

In 1848 the national Democratic platform contained a 
plank denouncing a Tariff, except for revenue, and hailing 
" the noble impulse given to the cause of free-trade by the 
repeal of the tariff of 1842, and the creation of the more 
equal, honest and productive tariff of 1846." The Whigs 
did not adopt a platform. 

The National Democratic platform of 1852 reaffirmed that 
of 1848, in great part; and that of the Whigs affirmed "a 
tariff for revenue with suitable encouragement to American 
industry." 

The Democratic platform of 1856 contained the plank : — 
"That the time has come for the people of the United 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 245 

States to declare tliemselves in favor of free seas and pro- 
gressive free trade throughout the world." 

The new Republican party did not introduce a tariff plank 
into its platform of 1856. 

THE TARIFF ACT OF 1 857. 

In the Thirty-fourth Congress, December 3, 1855, the 
Democrats had a majority of 9 in the Senate, but their 
magnificent majority in the previous House was turned into 
a medley of straight Democrats, pro-slavery Whigs, Know- 
Nothings and Anti-Nebraska men. Owing to the Kansas- 
Nebraska troubles, the Congress was not a dispassionate 
body. While it showed a spirit of generosity in encourag- 
ing railroad enterprise and grants of public lands, it swung 
without apparent cause, and in the face of solemn admoni- 
tions, clear over to a free-trade policy, and under existing 
circumstances struck the country a cruel blow on the very 
last day of its Second Session, March 3, 1857. This is the 
date of the Tariff Act of that year. The only excuse offered 
for its passage was the redundancy of revenue. This was 
almost instantaneously met by a flood of importations, for 
the Act reduced duties along the entire line of imports of 
leading articles, almost to such rates as had prevailed before 
the war of 18 12, and had prevailed at no time since, except 
at the end of the sliding scale in 1841, as provided in the 
Compromise Act of 1833. 

As had ever been, the already tottering industries were 
struck with paralysis, and there occurred an exhaustive out- 
pour of specie to foreign parts. Within six months of the 
passage of the Act the country was in the midst of distress- 
ing panic. No branch of industry escaped the disaster. 
Ruin was deep and universal. Ere it ceased there were 
5,123 conimercial failures. The government was compelled 



246 HISTORY 01' A3,IERICAN TARIFFS. 

to boirow money for necessary expenses at a discount of 
eight to ten per cent. Up to 1861 the pubHc debt increased 
^46,000,000, and during the same time the expenditures . 
exceeded the receipts by ^77,234,1 16. President Buchanan, 
in his annual message, said : " With unsurpassed plenty in 
all the productions and all the elements of natural wealth, 
our manufacturers have suspended; our public works are 
retarded ; our private enterprises of different kinds are 
abandoned ; thousands of useful laborers are thrown out of 
employment and reduced to want. We have possessed a.\. 
the elements of material wealth in rich abundance, and yet, 
notwithstanding all these advantages, our country, in its 
monetary interests, is in a deplorable condition." 

TARIFF ACT OF 1 86 1. 

The Democratic platform of i860 affirmed that of 1856. 
The Republican platform favored a revenue for duties, with 
such adjustment of them as would "develop the industries 
of the whole country." 

By the withdrawal of members from the Thirty-sixth 
Congress, to follow the seceding States, the Republicans 
came into a stiong majority during the second session, met 
December 3, i860. They improved their opportunity by 
the passage 0^ the Tariff Act of March 2, 1861. The Act 
was natural to the party and the situation. It increased 
duties all along the line of imports, and reintroduced the 
protective principle which had prevailed with slight modifi- 
cation from 1789 to 1832, and from 1842 to 1846. It is 
needless here to inquire into the rates of duty established 
by this tariff They differed radically from those imposed 
in the Act of 1857, and were so laid as to best effect the 
object of revenue, which was the-n, or soon would be, greatly 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 247 

needed, and at the same time apply and confirm the doctrine 
of protection, as to labor, manufactures and a home market. 

The war of the Rebellion helped to sanction this Act to 
the popular will and universal need. It was amended by 
the Act of December 24, 1861, so as to increase the revenues. 
It was still further amended by the Act of June 30, 1864, 
which increased rates of duty, and made them more protec- 
tive. There was another amendment, March 2, 1867, which 
chiefly related to manufacture of woolens, an industry 
which had been greatly stimulated by the war, and which 
was threatened by foreign competition in time of peace. 

The principle of both revenue and protection had now 
been strained to the uttermost by the exigency of war, and 
the period had arrived for a modification of duties. This 
modification came about under the amendatory Tariff Act of 
June 6, 1872, which reduced duties to a considerable extent, 
but without much discrimination, and added largely to the 
free list. 

TARIFF ACT OF 1 874. 

Though this Act did not attempt general revision, and was 
still amendatory, it was nevertheless important in the respect 
that it was an attempt to correct the inconsiderate reduc- 
tions of the Act of 1872. The panic of 1873 had followed 
the reductions of 1872, and though it was a world's panic, 
and hardly attributable to the legislation of any one nation, 
it served as a reminder that such catastrophes had invariably 
succeeded a too rapid reduction of duties and too wide a 
departure from the policy of protection. Therefore the Act 
of June 22, 1874, stiffened rates on dutiable articles of a 
kind which was liable to suffer from competition, broadened 
the protective idea as to new industries and home labor, and 
v.t the same time allowed a liberal free list, mostly of raw 
materials and unmanufactured articles. It was passed 



248 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

during the first session of the Forty-third Congress, whicii 
had a large Republican majority. 

TARIFF ACT OF 1 883. 

The Republican platform of 1880 contained a distinctiv^e 
protective plank ; the Democratic platform declared for " a 
tariff for revenue only." The Forty-seventh Congress had 
a Republican working majority in the House, but a tie in 
the Senate. Owing to the death of Garfield and the little 
work done by the previous Congress, it stood at the apex 
of an immense amount of legislation. At the first session, 
a bill was passed. May 15, 1882, creating a Tariff Commis- 
sion. This Commission sat at various places during 1882, 
and its report became the basis of the Tariff Act of the 
succeeding session. It was a non-partisan Commission, and 
its existence was due to a sentiment pervading all parties 
that some highly deliberate step was necessary to correct 
the incongruities of existing Tariff Acts, and re-adapt rates 
of duty to our newer and more widely diversified industries. 

The Commission worked laboriously, and with deference 
to the spirit of reform which had called it into existence, 
and, it may be said, with due regard to the sentiment of the 
hour against prohibitive, or even protective, rates as to es- 
tablished industries. Its conclusions pointed to measures 
which reduced duties along the entire line of imports, in 
general at least 25 per cent., in some cases more, in others 
less. Though the Congress did not adopt all of the conclu- 
sions of the Commission, its report, as already stated, 
formed the groundwork of the Act of 1883. 

The Act was passed March 3, 1883, after protracted dis- 
cussion. While it strove to equalize rates and abolish in- 
congruities, it did not prove to be a success. Interests were 
so conflicting that it was impossible to avoid crudities and 



HISTORY OF AlMlvRICAN TARIFFS. 2-19 

hardships. The demands of manufacturers for lighter 
duties on, or for free, raw materials worked to tlic injury of 
the producing- classes, and vice versa. The Act was in tli' 
nature of a compromise all round, but it showed that tl;i 
entire country had come to regard this class of legislation 
as of the highest moment, and vital to its interests. 

In the Forty-eighth Congress (1884), which, after the 
political "tidal wave" of 1882, contained a large Demo- 
cratic majority in the House, a determined effort was made 
to pass the Morrison Tariff Bill, which provided for a hori- 
zontal reduction of duties to the extent of twenty per cent. 
The Democrats divided on the merits of the bill and it was 
disposed of by striking out its enacting clause. 

TARIFF ACT OF 1 89O. 

The Republican National platform of 1884 distinctly 
enunciated the doctrine of protection. The Democratic 
platform contained a pledge of " tariff revision." There 
was no furtlier excitement over the tariff till President 
Cleveland delivered his message to Congress in December, 
1887. It was devoted almost wholly to tariff systems and 
laws, excepted to existing duties on woo! and necessaries, 
and directly opposed the protective idea. It was an earnest 
paper and had all the weight of a deliberate and special an- 
nouncement to the American people. The free-trade wing 
of the party hailed it as a recognition of their views. The 
" revenue reform " element, headed by Mr. Randall, re- 
garded it as unwise, as containing the seeds of political dis- 
aster, and as crushing out the minority element in the party. 
The Republicans treated it as a challenge to contest to the 
bitter end the issue of Free-Trade 7'S. Protection, though 
they regarded it as unneces.sarily bitter in expression, es- 
pecially in such sentences as, " But our present tariff laws, 



250 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

the vicious, inequitable and illogical source of unnecessary 
taxation, ought to be at once revised and amended." The 
English press was profuse in its praise, and as the Spectator 
said, " His terse and telling message has struck a blow at 
American protection such as could never have been struck 
by any free-trade league." 

What became known as the " Mills' Tariff Bill," suppos - 
ably framed to meet the President's views, was reported to 
the House of Representatives March i, 1888. It made sig- 
nificant reductions in existing tariff rates, and at once 
became the absorbing measure of the first session of the 
Fiftieth Congress. It was evident that upon it, and the 
repeal of internal taxation, party lines would be closely 
drawn, except as to the Democratic contingent led by Mr. 
Randall. The bill proved to have been hastily and crudely 
drawn, and the debates upon it took a wide range and were 
exhaustive of the merits of free-trade and protection. It 
passed the House July 21, 1888, but was met by a counter 
bill in the Senate, which embodied the Republican doctrine 
of protection. The two parties were now hopelessly wide 
apart, the time of the session was exhausted, and both 
appealed to the country on the record made in the Con- 
gress. 

The Republican national platform of 1888 pledged un- 
compromising favor for the American system of protection. 
The Democratic platform reaffirmed that of 1884, endorsed 
tlie views of President Cleveland in his last annual message, 
and also the efforts of the Democratic Congress to secure a 
reduction of excessive taxation. 

The issue of the campaign of 1888 is well known. With 
Harrison was elected a Republican Congress. The issue 
had been so wholly that of Free-trade vs. Protection that 
the way of the Republican majority was plain. The Com- 



HISTORY OF AMRRICAN TARirPS. 251 

niittee of Ways and Means, whose chairman was William 
McKinley, invited all the interests concerned in tariff revis- 
ion to a hearing. A bill was finally framed, which became 
known as the " McKinley Bill," The effort was to embody 
in the bill the experience of all former tariff legislation, and 
what was best of all former Acts ; to impose rates of a dis- 
tinctively protective character, and in the interest of Ameri- 
can labor, on maniiiactures which could exist here, but 
whose existence was threatened by foreign competition ; to 
impose similar rates on goods, such as tin plates, which we 
did not, but could manufacture, and ought to; to largely 
reduce the duty on necessaries, or exem[)t them altogether, 
as by making sugar free; to increase the free list by placing 
all raw materials on it whose importation did not compete 
Avith the home growth of the same; to introduce the policy 
of reciprocity by which we could gain something by en- 
larged trade in return for the loss of duties on sugars and 
such articles. 

A great deal of thought was given to the bill, and it was 
fully debated in Congress. Perhaps no Tariff Act was ever 
passed, in whose preparation so many interests had been so 
fully consulted, and with whose provisions the varied inter- 
ests were so fully satisfied. Certainly none ever passed that 
had to undergo more minute criticism, whose merits were 
more elaborately discussed, and respecting which so many 
prophecies, good and bad, were indulged. Its passage oc- 
cupied the entire time of the first session of the Fifty-first 
Congress, and it was not until October I, 1890, that it be- 
came a law. No other enactment of the Congress approached 
it in importance. 

So prominent was this legislation, and such the character 
of prophecies respecting it, that hardly anything else was 
heard in the Congressional campaign of 1 890. As the im- 



252 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

aginations of its opponents had free play, and as nothing 
could be affirmed of its practical workings by its friends 
before it began to work, there was another political " tidal 
wave" like that of 1882, and the Democrats entered the 
Fifty-second Congress with an overwhelming majority. 

They were under the same obligations to repeal the 
obnoxious McKinley Act, and enact a measure which 
embraced their views, as the Republicans were in the Fifty- 
first Congress. They were in far better condition to do this, 
as to the House, for their majority was overwhelming. 
They, however, did not attempt repeal or general revision, 
but introduced a series of Acts relating to special articles, 
such as the lowering of duties on manufactures of wool and 
on tin-plates, and the placing of wool, binding twine, etc., on 
the free list. The discussion of these provisions was ani- 
mated, and in general they passed the House. They served 
to keep the sentiment of the respective parties prominent, 
and to shape the issues for a retrial in the campaign of 1892, 
by which time the practical workings of the Act of 1890 will 
have tested many theories, and will compel orators to hew 
closely to lines of facts and figures in order to carry convic- 
tion. 

The McKinley Act increased duties on about 115 articles, 
embracing farm products, manufactures not sufficiently pro- 
tected, manufactures to be established, luxuries, such as 
wines. It decreased duties on about 190 articles, embracing 
manufactures established, or which could not suffer from 
foreign competition. It left the duties unchanged on 249 
articles. It enlarged the free list till it embraces 55.75 per 
cent, of all imports, or 22.48 more than previous tariffs. 
The placing of sugar on the free list was a loss of revenue 
equal to ^54,000,000 a year. 

Yet in its practical workings, the act never failed to 








Hon. Wili>iam ( 



IITNKV. 



Bom in Conway, Mass., July 15,1841; graduated at Yale, 1868; 
graduated at Harvard Law School, 1865; continued study of law in 
New York city and admitted to bar there ; prominent member of 
Young Men's Democratic Club; conspicuous for activity against 
"Tweed Ring; " Inspector City Schools, 18"2; candidate of Reformed 
Democracy for District Attorney and defeated ; appointed Corporation 
Counsel for New York city, 1876-80; reputed to have saved the city 
large sums by resisting fraudulent claims; resigned office, 1882; ap- 
pointed Secretary of Navy by President Cleveland, March 5, 1885; re- 
ceived degree of LL. D. from Vale, 1888 ; acvocate of a new navy, and 
made this a conspicuous feature of his administration. 




Hon. David B. Hill. 

Born in Chemung co., N. Y., August 29, 1843 ; graduated at Havanna 
Academy ; admitted to Elmira bar, November, 1864, and appointed 
City Attorney; member of State Assembly, 1871-72; President of 
Democratic State Conventions, 1877, 1881 ; elected Mayor of Elmira, 
1882; President of New York Bar Association, 1886-87 ; elected Lieu- 
tenant-Governor of New York, November, 1882 ; succeeded Grover 
Cleveland as Governor, January, 1885 ; elected Governor, November, 
1885, on Democratic ticket ; re-elected Governor, 1888 ; elected to 
United States Senate, as Democrat, 1891 ; a distinguished party organ- 
Uex and leader; name much discussed in connection with the Presidency. 



HISTORY OF ami<:kican takiffs. 255 

raise tlie revenue expected of it, which was ample for all 
the needs of the Government, with a fair margin to spare. 

Tariff of 1804. 

It was thought at the time that the failure of the Fifty- 
second Congress to pass a tariff act virtually repealing 
that of 1890 was due to tlie line hand of Ex-Presidcnt 
Cleveland. Whether this were true or not, there can be 
no doubt that the Democratic majority in the House o^ 
that Congress not only escaped the danger it feared 
through excess of untrained forces, but, consciously or 
unconsciously, paved the way for Mr. Cleveland's re- 
nomination. The lustre of Ins championship of tariff re- 
form, the making of it a party issue, the high hope he in- 
dulged as to its future success, the shrewd calculation on 
his part that the battles must be many and stubborn be- 
fore a system so strongly entrenched as protection could 
be made to yield, were all so many pointers toward his 
selection as leader of his party in the Presidential 
campaign of 1892. In the Convention which placed him 
in nomination, it was .said of him that, " if he did not 
create tariff reform he made it a presidential issue. He 
vitalized it, and presented it to the Democratic party as 
the issue for which we ought to fight, and continue to 
battle upon it until victory is now assured. It consoli- 
dated into one solid phalanx the Democracy of the nation. 
In every State of this Union that policy has been placed 
in Democratic platforms, and our battles have been 
fought upon it, and this great body of representative 
Democrats has seen its good results.'' 

In that Convention the Committee on Resolutions re- 
ported a tariff plank which supported the traditions of 
the party, but it was not deemed radical enough by a 
15 



256 HISTORY OB^ AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

majority of the Convention, to whom " tariff reform " 
had no meaning, who wished to express their disgust at 
the cowardice of the party in the Fifty-second Congress, 
or who believed that the time liad passed for further dis- 
guise of the fact that the real issue was one between 
" Free Trade and Protection." This majority, therefore, 
agreed to make their departure then and there, cost what 
it might to the party. It was loudly hinted that in their 
rather desperate action they cared but little for Mr. 
Cleveland's success, but it is more than likely that their 
real aim was an issue without disguises. They were con- 
fident of the support of the solid South, where the Con- 
federate Constitution had in years gone by enacted free 
trade. So they determined to throw the gauntlet 
squarely down, and by one herculean effort purge our 
institutions of the protective doctrine. 

They took their radical step by moving the following 
plank as a substitute for that which had been proposed 
by the Committee on Resolutions : 

"We denounce Republican protection as a fraud — as a 
robbery of a great majority of the American people for 
the benefit of a few. We declare it to be a fundamental 
principal of the Democratic party that the Government 
has no constitutional power to impose and collect a dollar 
for tax except for purposes of revenue only, and demand 
that the collection of such taxes be imposed by the 
Government when only honestly and economically ad- 
ministered. We denounce the McKinley law enacted by 
the Fifty-first Congress as the culminating atrocity of 
class legislation. We endorse the efforts of the Dem- 
ocrats of the present Congress to modify its most oppress- 
ive features in the direction of free raw materials and 
cheaper manufactured goods that enter into general con- 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 257 

suin[)tioii, and \vc promise its repeal as one of the benefi- 
cent results that will folh»\v the action of the people in 
entrusting })(iwer to the Democratic party. Since the 
McKinley tariif went into operation thei'c have been ten 
reductions of the wages of laboring men to one increase 
We deny that there has been an}' increase of pros})erit}i 
to the countr}' since that tariff went into operation, and 
we point to the dulness and distress, the wage reductions 
and strikes in the iron trade, as the best possible evidence 
that no such prosperity has resulted from the McKinley 
act." 

This extraordinarily bold announcement of sentiments 
to which a great party was asked to subscribe, and upon 
which it was to stake the issues of a presidential cam- 
paign, was everywhere received with suiprise and conster- 
nation. Tiiey indicated such a bold advance and such a 
revolutionary temper as must have inevitably led to party 
schism and final defeat, had it not been possible to in. 
dulge the saving thought that Mr. Cleveland could well 
afford to be a platform unto himself, and would un- 
doubtedly repudiate whatever he found offensive in the 
above radical plank. Indeed he greatly modified the 
asperities of the plank in his letter of acceptance, and 
gave the country the assurance that no war of extermina- 
tion was contemplated against American interests. Hav- 
ing taken the sting out of the savage sentences of the 
platform on which he stood, he hoped thereby to reconcile 
the results of the Convention to those who before saw in 
them the seeds of certain disaster. 

Mr. Cleveland was elected President, and with him a 
majority of both Houses of the Fifty-third Congress, 
thus giving the Democrats full control of all the depart- 
ments of Government for the first time in thirty-two 



258 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

years. So pronounced a victory brought the party face 
to face with its platform doctrines and pledges, and not 
a few of the leaders clamored for a swift and deadly blow 
at the fabric of protection. But My. Cleveland was by 
no means as decided in his tariff reform views as he liad 
been in his celebrated message of 1887. In his message 
to Congress he generalized on his favorite subject, and 
glossed his attacks on protection by referring to the evils 
of paternalism. His language was, "The verdict of our 
voters which condemned the injur}' of maintaining pro- 
tection for protection's sake, enjoins upon the people's 
servants the duty of exposing and destroying the brood 
of kindred evils which are the unwholesome progeny of 
paternalism. This is the bane of republican institutions 
and the constant peril of our Government by the people. 
It degrades to the purposes of wil}^ craft the plan of rule 
our fathers established and bequeathed to us as an object 
of veneration. It perverts the patriotic sentiments of our 
countrymen and tempts them to a pitiful calculation of 
sordid gain to be derived from their Government's main- 
tenance. It undermines the self-reliance of our people 
and substitutes in its place dependence upon govern- 
mental favoritism. It stifles the spirit of true American- 
ism and stupefies every ennobling trait of citizenship." 

This generalization betokened caution on the part of the 
President, and it was disappointing to those who sought 
an immediate application of the unequivocal doctrine of 
tlie platform of 1892. But he had witnessed the dangers 
that arose from a large, newly elected and incongruous 
majority of his party in the House of the Fiftj^-second Con- 
gress. Now the elements were still more incongruous, for 
the political upheaval that had assured his election, and the 
majority iu the Congress, had come about by strange 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 259 

alliances with the populistic and coniniunistic elements of 
the countiy, and with the discontented of eveiy political 
persuasion ; and now too he was aware of the strong 
disjiosition of ins party to regard victory as a vindication 
of the bold stand taken in the tariff plank of the plat- 
form rather than of his modification of the same. He 
mnst, therefore, see these new men and get ac(iuainted 
with these new forces, during the calm after the storm, 
in order to take the bearings for his administration. 

Almost synchronous with Mr. Cleveland's inauguration, 
waves of commercial doubt swept over the country. 
Amid conditions bordering on panic, industries withered, 
and idleness, want and distress became the portion of 
labor. The existence of the Sherman Silver Act was 
fixed on as a cause, though to all protectionists it was 
manifest that the real cause was the demoralizing uncer- 
tainty created by the threatened overthrow of the pro- 
tective system. In obedience to the clamor for the repeal of 
tiie Sherman Act, Mr. Cleveland called the Fifty-third 
Congress in extra session, August 7, 1893. It met the ob- 
ject of the call b^^ repeal of the purchasing clause of the act. 
Though this was its exclusive official work, the frame- 
woik (jf what was to become known as the Wilson Tariff 
Bill was then and there erected. The election of Speaker 
of the House, the arrangement of committees, and such 
other steps as could be taken without interference with 
the special object of the session, all pointed to early ac- 
tion on the tariff bill. This was particularly true of the 
Committee on Ways and Means, with whom the bill was 
to originate. Hon. William L. Wilson, of West Virginia, 
was selected as chairman of the committee. This choice was 
pleasing to Mr. Cleveland, and was, perhaps, dictated by 
him. He had long admired Mr. Wilson for his industry 



260 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

in the House and liis grasp of economic questions. He 
was a scholarly man, and thoroughly imbued with the 
doctrines of the free trade school of statesmen, especially, 
as found in books. As to fitness for the particular ^^•ork 
in hand, the choice could not have fallen on better 
shoulders. 

What time could be spared from the immediate work of 
the special session of Congress, was devoted by the 
Democratic majority of the Committee of Ways and 
Means to the preparation of the new tariff bill. This 
Avork was extended over the vacation period, the object 
being to have the bill as far advanced as possible, and 
ready for early presentation to the Congress at its first 
regular session, December 4th, 1893. This object was 
achieved and the bill came into the House soon after the 
session opened. 

In the preparation of the bill the Democratic majority 
of the Committee permitted no interference with its pur- 
poses. Complaint was made that the various interests of 
the country were denied a hearing such as had been ac- 
corded when the McKiidey bill of 1890 was under prep- 
aration, or, if granted a hearing, that their facts and 
arguments were ignored. But it was not deemed neces- 
sary to hear fully or favor at all, for the theory of the bill 
was to eliminate the jjrotective principle as far as possible, 
and to establish a system of purel}^ revenue duties, with 
as near an approach as circumstances would admit of, by 
an enlargement of the free list, to the piinciples of free 
trade. 

When the bill appeared in the House, its opponents 
quickly pointed out that it was full of incongruities due 
to a desire to placate certain sections and favor certain in- 
dustries. In this respect it was at odds with the platform 



IIISTOKY OF AMKlvICAN TARIFFS. 201 

of tlic party which had deiioimcccl as unconstitutional 
all ihilies levied for protective purposes, and it, at the 
lime, contaiiieil the admission that, after all, protection 
was necessary for the existence and encouragement of 
certain industries. A leading characteristic of the bill 
was the almost universal departure from the principles of 
specific duties and the adoption of ad valorem rates. In 
this respect it copied the old Walker Tarilf Act wliich 
"went out of existence with the adoption of the Moiill 
Tariff of 1861. Against this feature of the bill its op- 
ponents inveighed strongly in Mouse and Senate, deeming 
the change a direct invitation to fraud upon tlie Govern- 
ment by undervaluation of goods by foreign exporters. 
The counter argument was that it was equitable and fur- 
nished a sliding scale of duties according to the rise and 
fall of prices. 

In general terms the bill made sweeping reductions in 
duties as fixed in the McKinley Act, turned the lumber 
schedule practically into a free list, placed wool, coal, 
animals and iron ore on the free list, and brought all 
manufactures of wool below the protective rate. The 
further enlargement of the free list was effected by modi- 
fications in all the schedules, and especiall}' in those 
which embraced products of the farm. It struck a direct 
and exterminating blow at the principle of reciprocity 
which had been incorporated into the McKinley Act, and 
brought about the si)eedy abrogation of the numerous 
treaties wiiicli had been negotiated under that Act, look- 
ing to an enlargement of reciprocal trade relations with 
other countries, and which liad already brought about 
great increase in commerce. 

Perliaps the most conspicuous, certainly the most novel 
and unexpected Feature of the bill, was that levying a tax 



262 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

of two per cent, on all incomes in excess of $4,000. Dur- 
ing the civil war a similar tax was levied, but it was 
deemed an emergency tax, was exacted for only a brief 
while, and after the return of peace, the unexpended pro- 
ceeds of the tax were refunded to the States. Such a tax 
had ever met with the bitterest hostility of the Demo- 
crats, who refused to justify it even as a war measure. 
It had never found favorable mention in any Democratic 
platform. There w\as no open evidence anywhere that' 
the party had undergone a change of heart respect- 
ing this kind of taxation. The only platform of any 
party, in 1892, that contained a favorable mention of 
such a tax was the Populist platform, adopted at Omaha, 
in which the demand was for " a graduated income tax.'"' 

It was charged that this furnished the reason for the in- 
corporation of the income tax clauses in the Wilson Tariff 
bill, and that the demand for its insertion by those Avho 
had proved such willing and profitable allies of the Dem- 
ocrats in 1892 could not be denied, and this especially 
since the demand proved pleasing to the South, where the 
blending of Populistic and Democratic doctrines was such 
as to obscure the political identity of both. In the after 
discussion of the bill, especially in the Senate, the Popu- 
list members laid bold claim to the fathership of this in- 
come tax feature, a claim which was not denied. It was 
therefore a concession to this new and helpful political 
element, though a wide departure from the recognized- 
principles of Democracy, and a reflection on its record as 
spread abroad in convention, legislative hall and in the hust- 
ings. Its one justification by those who fathered it, was 
that the rich were not bearing their full share of taxation. 
To this argument, those who introduced it into the tariff 
added another, to the effect that it was a necessity be- 



niRTORV OF AMKinrAN TARIFFS. 2f>3 

cause the tarift" bill as then tViinied would fail to raise suf- 
ficient revenue to meet the wants of the Goveriniient. It 
is needless to say that this argument struck the minds of 
economists and statesmen as somewhat remarkable, 
since the underlying principle of the Wilson bill was to 
substitute a revenue tariff for a protective one; and since 
in the introduction and establishment of a principle so 
momentous and a doctrine so cardinal, the one central 
feature of the bill, the revenue feature, should be so faulty 
as to wring a confession in advance that it was a failure. 

The heading of the Wilson Tariff bill was " A hill to re- 
duce taxation, provide revenue for the government and for 
other purposes.'' Mr. W^ilson presented the bill in the 
House with a speech, in which he justified the departure 
indicated by the bill, by the doctrine that protection was 
opposed to tlie instincts of a free and prosperous people, 
that paternalism had proven harmful in widening the gap 
between labor and capital, and in favoring the classes at 
the expense of the masses. Passing over and explaining 
the various schedules, he asked for the measure that sup- 
port which his party was bound to give if it expected 
to redeem its pledges to the peo^de. 

The parliamentary struggle over the bill now began. It 
was to be a prolonged contention. While Mr. Wilson in 
Ids introductory speech had sounded the keynote of ar- 
gument, and had the administration at his back, and 
therefore presumably his party at his back, it became 
apparent at an early day that the bill contained inherent 
weaknesses which might force its material modification and 
greatly postpone its jiassage. It was not such a bill as 
out and out free traders had demanded and expected. It 
alarmed conservative Democrats who found their home 
interests threatened by it. It became an object of per- 



264 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

sisteiit and merciless attack by Republicans, who con- 
demned it more for its glaring inconsistencies than for its 
general aim. As was facetiously stated at the time, it 
was a bill which met the views of but few of its friends, 
yet to which all subscribed under the plea that party ne- 
cessity compelled its support without regard to its intrin- 
sic merits. 

The question of its passage in the House, therefore, 
became one of holding the party together, of keeping up 
a daily quorum, and of forcing issues as they arose. The 
rules of the House had been made exceedingly strong for 
this purpose, and the rulings of the speaker strenuous. 
Yet with all this it made diflicult and tardy headway. In- 
terest flagged as the debates progressed, and it became 
possible for the opposition, by refusing to help the major- 
ity to keep up a quorum, to check all progress. This 
brought about a change of rules, and the adoption of that 
principle of counting a quorum which the Republicans 
liad adopted in the Fifty-first Congress, and which the 
Democrats had then so bitterly opposed. 

Thus fortified, and with the idea more dominant thnn 
ever that the bill was a party necessit}^ it moved moie 
rapidly toward passage. Few opportunities for amend- 
ment were given, though amendments were offered in great 
numbers. The lieavy, dangerous end of the bill was its 
income tax feature. This was teriffically attacked by the 
Re[)ublicans as giving to the bill a sectional and revenge- 
ful turn, and as being at odds with all ideas of justice and 
a discouragement to frugality. It was as powerfully at- 
tacked by an able Democratic contingent, whose hostility, 
however, was rendered innocuous by the fact that in the 
end they would vote for it. 

After nearly two months of discussion in the House, 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TAIMFFS. 265 

the bill was passed, February 1st, 1894, b}- a largo and 
idinost strictly party majority, augmented by the l'(ii)ulist 
strength. The vote stood 20-4 for, and 140 against it, 
seventeen of the latter being Democrats. The dominant 
forces had been well kept together during the struggle, 
and the passage of the bill was heralded as a signal vic- 
tory for Mr. Cleveland's administration. 

It was now ready for the Senate, and the great problem 
was how it wouUl fare in a body of conservative tenden- 
cies and where the Democratic majority was meagre. 
Once in the Senate, it passed into the hands of the Fi- 
nance Committee, and was immediately referred to a sub- 
committee composed of Senators Mills of Texas. Jones of 
Arkansas and Vest of Missouri. The bill hail been bit- 
terly denounced by the Republicans in the House as the 
boldest stride toward free trade taken since the celebrated 
Walker Tariff Act of 1846, as a sectional bill framed in 
the interests of the South and containing a cruel and 
unnecessary blow at the wealth and industry of the North, 
and as utterly ruinous to American prosi)erity. If this 
were so, it was surely now in the hands of its real friends, 
for the subcommittee which had it in charge, represented 
three contiguous southern States, neither of which had 
large commercial or manufacturing interests at stake. 
The committee evidently knew for what it had been 
chosen, for it went about its work in earnest, but in a way 
which scMin led to loud public censure. It refused hear- 
ings to manufacturing interests wliere they were confi- 
dently expected and had been usually granted, on the 
plea that such hearings would lead to waste of time and 
indefinite postponement of conclusions. It atteuipted to 
remedy this defective method of procedure by sending 
out circulars inviting opinions as to the effect of changes 



266 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

in rates of duty, but the complaint was still general, that 
answers, which could not be satisfactorily framed in this 
way, were treated with indifference or wholly ignored. 

After a period of suspense, which was greatly intensi- 
fied by the prostrated condition of the countiy, an outline 
of such bill as the Finance Committee had agreed to re- 
port was teutatively submitted to the Senate. It imme- 
diately drew the fierce fire of the Republicans, and after 
one or two tests of strength, it was seen that further at- 
tempt to push the measure would prove a failure. While 
it was not directly recalled, the Committee gave it out 
that it had a more complete and satisfactory measure in 
reserve. When this was forthcoming it proved to be a 
revelation and sensation. It was no longer the Wilson 
bill as it had passed the House, and hardly a semblance of 
it, for it had been disfigured and transformed by more 
than four hundred amendments. 

Why and how these amendments came to be made — 
amendments sufficient in number to constitute a new bill — 
can never be historically explained ; yet it may be truth- 
fully said that so far as conservative Democrats were con- 
cerned, they urged the importance of such concessions as 
would insure the speedy passage of the bill and give the 
country relief. These concessions were not oidy for 
reasons existing within the paity, but for the purpose of 
modifying the ferocity of the Republican attack. Inter- 
ests that had at first been denied a hearing were consid- 
ered, and mau}^ of them obtained concessions that were 
of great value, if not entirely satisfactory. Several 
articles, such as coal, etc., which had found a place in the 
free list, were turned back to the dutiable list, every such 
change being a departure from the spirit of the original 
bill, and tending to make it more confused and anomalous 



HISTORY OF AMKUICAN TARIFFS. 267 

as a revenue measure. Tlie situation in tlie Senate re- 
peated that of the House. Every friend of the bill was 
dissatisfied with it; yet willing to support it lor the sake 
T)f party. 

At this juncture tlie bill became a source of public 
scandal. The charge was made that it had been turned 
)nto a matter of bargain and sale by the Sugar Trust, 
whose members had secretly visited members of the 
Senate Finance Committee, and had secured a mollifica- 
tion of the sugar schedule in the interest of the Trust, by 
means of which it would reap great profits. These profits 
were t-j be realized by placing a duty on sugar, but post- 
poning its collection till January 1st, 1805. thus giving 
the Trust a chance to stock up without duty, but at the 
same time to advance the price of refined sugar to the extent 
of the duty. The charge was further made that the 
Secretary of the Treasury had personally written, or dic- 
tated, a change in the sugar schedule in accordance with 
the wishes of the Trust. Still another charge was made 
that the Trust demanded and obtained this valuable con- 
cession in pursuance of a preexisting agreement with the 
leaders of the Democratic party that its (the Trust's) 
interests should be protected for the consideration of a 
gift of a sum of money, estimated at 8500,000, for cam- 
paign purposes in 1892. And again it was charged that 
information respecting the work of the Finance Com- 
mittee had been sent out secretly to New York brokers, 
and that Senators had taken advantage of this leakage to 
speculate in sugar stocks. 

The publication of these charges created quite a sen- 
sation, dragged the high character of the Senate in the 
miro, and cast a taint on tariff legislation. An investiga- 
tion was ordered. The newspaper men who had made the 



268 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS 

exposures refused to give the names of their informants and 
were turned over to the criminal courts to be tried for 
contumacy. The sugar magnates who were called to tes-" 
tify admitted the giving of money in unremembered 
amounts to State, but not the National, Campaigns, on the 
score of business, and for which they expected correspond 
ing benefits. Other witnesses testified in a modified way, 
and some with very proper and natural excuses, to the 
truth of what had been charged, while even Senators when 
called did not in every instance place themselves beyond 
the suspicion that tliey had tahen advantage of the situation 
to turn a penny in sugar stock speculation. 

The revelations were a terrible blow to the national 
pride and to every sense of honor and honesty, but they 
did not serve to loosen the grip which the Trust had on 
the Senate. On the contrary, they served rather to ex- 
plain what had before been a rumor, that the position of 
the Trust was so strong that the fate of the entire tariff 
bill depended on its getting the protection it wanted. 
They also served to explain the indifference of the Trust 
to the sugar schedule when the bill was in the House, at 
which time it was given out that the Trust depended on 
the Senate for the protection it desired. Moreover they | 
intensified the Disposition to the bill in general, for the 
taint, like mildew, spread to other parts of it, especially 
to the internal revenue clauses relating to the taxes on 
T'hiskey and beer. 

That there should have been sucl) favoritism shown to 
a gigantic Trust, at a time when the exalted principle of 
tariff reform was seeking for recognition in our industrial 
and commercial economy, was made all the more inexplic- 
able by the clause in the Democratic platform of 1892, 
which read: — 



niSTDRV OF AMKUICAN TARIFFS. 260 

"We lecoguizu in llie Trusts and C'onibinatioiis wliich 
are desigueJ to enable capital to secure mure than its just 
share of the joint product of capital and labor a natural 
consequence of the prohibitive taxes which prevent the 
free competition which is the life of honest trade, but be- 
lieve their worst evils can be abated by law, and we 
demand the vigid enforcement of the laws made to prevent 
and control them, together with such further legislation 
in restraint of these abuses as experience may show to be 
necessary." 

The bill was debated in the senate for months with 
blended ability and acrimony. It was subjected to 
gradual modifications, generally in the direction of increased 
duties and additional inconsistencies. The income tax 
portion precipitated the strongest debates, and, as had 
been the case in the House, the bitterest opponents of the 
tax were Democrats themselves. The op[)osition speeches 
of Senators Hill of New York and Smith of New Jersey, 
were remarkable for their vigor and ability. The ground 
taken by the former was not only economically important, 
but showed the great danger to the party likely to spring 
out of this kind of legislation. He deemed it unwise to 
incorporate an income tax into a reform bill, or to attach 
it to any measure of tariff revision. It was a war tax in 
time of peace. Democracy had never favored snch a tax. 
It was a Popnlistic measure. It fulfilled no Democratic 
doctrine or promise. He ridiculed the idea that the 
United States should coj^y tliis form of taxation from 
England, whose form of government, natural surround- 
ings and obligaticms were essentially different. But even 
in England it was rather tolerated than appi'oved. Wax- 
ing warm, he repudiated the "Spurious Democracy of 
those modern apostles and prophets, who are part Mug- 



270 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

wump, part Populist, and the least part Democratic, who 
seek to lead us astray after false gods, false theories and 
false methods." 

The arguments against the tax may be summed up 
thus: (1) It had no legitimate place in a tariff reform 
bill. (2) It was neither Democratic nor Republican in 
principle ; had never been approved by the public ; was a 
doctrine of Populism. (3) It was unnecessary as a rev 
enue measure. (4) It was a direct tax and therefore un- 
constitutional. (5) It was unequal, unjust and sectional 
in its operations. (6) It revived an odious war tax. (7) 
Its exemption stamped it as an offensive piece of class 
legislation; all incomes should be taxed or none. (8) It 
was retroactive. (9) It usurped a field of taxation law 
fully belonging to the States. (10) It was inquisitorial 
and offensive. (11) It would lead to conflict between 
State and Federal authorities. (12) It selects a class foj* 
Federal taxation. 

The Populist senators were persistent and aggressive 
in support of the income tax clause. They averred that 
the tax was favored by a majority of the people ; that the 
laboring classes thought the rich were not bearing theii 
share of taxation ; that officials who had to do with pub- 
lic moneys were corrupt, and the rich could secure from 
them lower assessments ; that millionaires were too num- 
erous, seventy of them averaging estates of $37,000,000 
each. 

As the summer of 1894 wore away, and there was a 
prospect of the passage of the Wilson bill in the Senate, 
anxiety arose as to how it would be received in its trans- 
formed shape on its return to the House. There was 
much probing of sentiment as to this, and it was found 
that many disciplinary lessons would be required in order 




GROVER CLEVELAND 








Hon. John G. Carlisle. 

Born in Kenton co., Ky., September 5, 1835 ; educated in common 
schools and as teacher; admitted to bar, 1858; member of Kentucky 
State Legislature, 1859-61 ; elected to State Senate, 1866 and 1869 ; 
elected Lieutenant-Governor of State, 1871; elected to 45th, 46th, 47th, 
48th, 49th, 50th and 51st Congresses; presided as Speaker of House in 
48th, 49th and 50th Congresses; a dignified officer and skilled parlia- 
mentarian ; elected to United States Senate, as Democrat, to succeed 
Senator Beck, deceased. May 17, 1890; member of Committees on Fi- 
nance, Territories, Canadian Relations, Indian Depredations and Wo- 
man's Suffrage ; resigned his seat in the Senate to accept Secretaryship 
of Treasuary in President Cleveland's Cabinet ; confirmed March 6, 
1893, and entered upon duties of office March 9, 1893. 



HISTORY OF AMElilCAN TAUIFFS. 273 

to win support fur it. Of course tliere liad been no abate- 
nient of the anti-protection sentiment, but there was re- 
luctance in surrendering to the terms of the Sugar Trust. 
However, the dilemma was to pass with the passage of 
the bill by the Senate, July 3, 1804, by a vote of thirty- 
nine yeas to thirty-four nays, the Populists voting with 
the Democrats. 

It was carried back to the House, where an understand- 
ing already existed that it should not be opened to de- 
bate, but should be referred at once to a Committee of 
Conference. It was also understood in the House, by 
this time, that with the Sugar Trust it was to be either 
the Senate legislation or no legislation, while with the 
party in power it was to be a tariff bill, no matter how 
incongruous, nor what confession of inability to legislate 
it contained, or else a violation of all the party's pledges 
and promises to the country, and perhaps its ultimate 
ruin. 

The bill, metamorphosed in form as well as name, for it 
was now not improperl}^ dubbed the Gorman- Brice bill, 
was duly referred to a Conference Committee, after a 
speech on a motion to non-concur with the Senate, by Mr. 
Wilson, in which he said that the bill had come back to 
the House with six hundred and thirty-four amendments 
to it, and that it no longer represented the principle that 
revenue taxes under a tariff should be levied on finished 
products and not on raw materials. Only wool and lum- 
ber came back undisturbed by the Senate. The bill had 
been rendered furtlier unsatisfactory by numerous changes 
from ad valorem to specific or compound rates of duty. 

The Democratic members of the Conference Committee 
took hold of the bill to the exclusion of the Republicans. 
In the contention over the departure from ad valorem 
16 



274 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

rates the Senate members proved the stronger, for it was 
supported by the fact that nearly every civilized govern- 
ment had adopted the principle of specific rates. Aside 
from the question of general principles the Committee 
found grounds for agreement in many of the schedules, 
and work progressed slowly but satisfactorily for a time. 
It, however, became manifest that a serious hitch was to 
occur over the sugar schedule, and the items of coal and 
iron ore, all of which were free in the House bill, as a 
matter of party pledge and economic principle, but which 
had been made dutiable in the Senate bill on the plea that 
thus only could its passage be secured in that body, yet 
under the general charge of the Republicans and of the 
ablest representatives of the Democratic press that the 
changes had been made in pursuance of campaign prom- 
ises to protect the interests of the Sugar Trust. 

The bill had now reached one of the most critical points 
in its history, and the developments which mark*^d its prog- 
ress from this time on were the most interesting in con- 
nection with economic legislation, even if they did not in- 
dicate a permanent schism of the dominant party. What 
startled most the moral sense of the country Ava.s the fact 
that the criminations and recriminations of the Democratic 
factions helped to confirm the suspicion that the bill was 
by no means a reflex of a majority sentiment of the party, 
but a mere measure of expediency, framed or rather 
adopted, on the principle that something must he done 
rather than nothing; and further, that the schedules over 
which differences were most irreconcilable and bitter had 
been dictated by the trusts and syndicates in pay for j^ast 
and prospective favors. 

On July 19, the committee of conference reported a dis- 
agreement to both the Houses of Congress. In the House, 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 275 

^Ir. Wilson deprecated this disagroeinent in strong, but 
siiil, terms, lie said the conmiittee on the part of the 
House could not accede to the Senate's demands witliout 
further instruction. He pointed out the difference be- 
tween tlie rates of dut}' as originally fixed in the House 
bill and as found in the Senate bill. In the course of bis 
speech he said: — "If it be true, as stated by the gentle, 
man from Ohio (Mr. Johnson) — of which I have seen my- 
self some confirmation in the press — if it be true that the 
great American Sugar Trust has grown so strong and power- 
fid that it says that no tariff bill can pass the American 
Congress in which its interests are not adequately guarded ; 
if, I say, that be true, I hope this House will never consent 
to adjournment. I hope, whatever the result of the gen- 
eral tariff bill is, that this House will not consent to an 
adjournment until it has passed a single bill putting re- 
fined sugar on the free list." In conclusion Mr. Wilson 
eulogized President Cleveland, and then, to the astonish- 
ment of the House, read a letter from him dated July 2, 
1894, and before the passage of the bill in the Senate. 
The letter was addressed to Mr. Wilson and had been in 
his private keeping ever since its receipt. Mr. Wilson 
now made it public with President Cleveland's consent. 
It was such a remarkable letter, and led to such serious 
consequences, that it came to be regarded as one of the 
most momentous chapters in the history of the Wilson 
Tariff bill, if not one of the boldest of executive attempts 
to influence legislation. No just and impartial history of 
the tariff bill nor even of the times would be complete 
without an opportunity to read it. It ran ; 

"My Dear Sir: — The certainty that a conference will 
be ordered between the two Houses of Congress for the 



276 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

purpose of adjusting differences on the subject of tariff 
legislation makes it also certain that you will be again 
called on to do hard service in the cause of tariff reform. 
" My public life has been so closely related to the sub- 
ject, I have so longed for its accomplishment, and I have 
so often promised its realization to my fellow countrymen 
as a result of their trust and confidence in the Democratic 
party, that I hope no excuse is necessary for my earnest 
appeal to you that in this crisis you strenuously insist your 
party honesty, good faith and a sturdy adherence to Demo- 
cratic principles, t believe these are absolutely necessary 
conditions to the continuation of Democratic existence. 

"I cannot rid myself of the feeling that this conference 
will present the best, if not the only hope, of true Democ- 
racy. Indications point to its action as the reliance of 
those who desire the genuine fruition of Democratic effort, 
the fulfilment of Democratic pledges and the redemption 
of Democratic promises to the people. To reconcile dif- 
ferences in the details comprised within the fixed and well 
defined lines of principle, will not be the sole talk of the 
conference ; but, as it seems to me, its members will also 
have in charge the question whether Democratic principles 
themselves are to be saved or abandoned. 

''There is no excuse for mistaking or misapprehending 
the feeling and the temper of the rank and file of the 
Democracy. They are downcast under the assertion that 
their party fails in ability to manage the Government, and 
they are apprehensive that efforts to bring about tariff re- 
form may fail; but they are much more downcast and 
apprehensive in their fears that Democratic principles 
may be surrendered. 

" In these circumstances they cannot do otherwise than 
to look with confidence to you and those who with you 



HISTORY OF AMKUICAN TARIFFS. 277 

have patriotically and sincerely clianipinncd tlie cause of 
tariff reform within Democratic lines and guided by Dem- 
ocratic principles. This action is vastly augmented by the 
action, under your leadership, of the House of Represen- 
tatives upon the bill now pending, 

»" Every true Democrat and every sincere tariff reformer 
knows that this bill in its present form and as it will be 
submitted to the conference committee falls short of the 
consummation for which we havelong labored, for which we 
liave suffered defeat without discouragement; which in 
its anticipation gives us a rallying cry in our day of 
triumph, and which in its promise of accomplishment is 
so interwoven with Democratic pledges and Democratic 
success that our abandonment of the cause and of the prin- 
ciples upon which it rests means party perfidy and party 
dishonor. 

"One topic will be submitted to the conference which 
embodies Democratic principle so directly that it cannot 
be compromised. We have in our platforms and in every 
way possible declared in favor of free importation of 
raw materials. We have again and again promised that this 
should be accorded to our people and our manufacturers 
as soon as the Democratic party was invested with power 
to determine the tariff policy of the country. 

" The party now has that power. We are as certain to- 
day as we ever have been of the great benefit that would 
'accrue to the country from the inauguration of this 
policy, and nothing has occurred to release us from our 
obligation to secure this advantage to our people. It 
must be admitted that no tariff measure can accord with 
Democratic principles and promises or bear a genuine 
Democratic badge that does not provide for free raw 
material. 



278 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

" In tliese circumstance it may well excite our wonder 
that Democrats are willing to depart from this, the most 
Democrats of all tariff principles, and that the most in- 
consistent absurdity of such a proposed departure should 
be emphasized by the suggestion that the wool of the 
farmer be put on the free list and the protection of tariff 
taxation be placed around the iron ore and coal of cor- 
porations and capitalists. How can we face the people 
after indulgiug in such outrageous discrimination and 
violation of principles? 

"It is quite apparent that the question of free raw 
materials does not admit of adjustment on middle ground, 
since their subjection to any rate of tariff taxation, great 
or small, is alike violative of Democratic principle and 
Democratic good faith. 

"I hope that 3'ou will not consider it intrusive if I say 
something in relation to another subject which can hnrdlj' 
fail to be troublesome to the conference. I refer to the 
adjustment of tariff taxation on sugar. 

" Under our party platform and in accordance with our 
declared party purposes, sugar is a legitimate and logical 
article of revenue taxation. Unfortunately, however, in- 
cidents have accompanied certain stages of the legislation 
which will be submitted to the conference, that have 
aroused in connection with this subject a national Demo- 
cratic animosit}^ to the methods and manipulations of Trusts 
and Combinations. I confess to sharing in this feeling, and 
yet, it seemed to me, we ought, if possible, to sufficiently 
free ourselves from prejudice to enable us coolly to weigh 
the consideration which, in formulating tariff legislation, 
ought to guide our treatment of sugar as a taxable article. 

" While no tenderness should be entertained for Tiusts, 
and while I am decidedly opposed to granting them, under 



HISTORY OP AMElilCAX TAHIFFa. 279 

tlie guise of taxation, any opportunity to further their 
I)articuhir methods, I suggest tliat we ouglit not to be 
driven away from the Democratic principle and policy 
which lead to the taxation of sugar by the fear, quite 
likely exaggerated, that in carrying out this principle and 
policy we may indirectly and inordinately encourage a 
combination of sugar refining interests. I know that in 
present conditions this is a delicate subject, and I appre- 
ciate the depth and strength of the feeling which its 
treatment has aroused. 

" I do not believe we should do evil that good may 
come ; but it seems to me that we should not forget that 
our aim is the completion of a tai'iff bill, and that in tax- 
ing sugar for proper purposes and within reasonable 
bounds, whatever else may be said of our action, we are 
in no danger of running counter to Democratic principles. 
With all there is at stake, there must be in the treatment 
of this article some ground upon which we are all willing 
to stand, where toleration and conciliation may be allowed 
to solve the problem without demanding the entire sur- 
render of fixed and conscientious convictions. 

"In the conclusions of conference touching the numer- 
ous items which will be considered, the people are not 
afraid that their interests will be neglected. They know 
that the general result, so far as they are concerned, will 
be to place home necessaries and comforts more easily 
within their reach and to insure better and surer compen- 
sation to those who toil. 

" We all know that a tariff law covering all the varied 
interests and conditions of a country as vast as ours must, 
of necessity, be the result of hf^sorable adjustment and 
compromise. 

*' I expect very few of us can say, when our measure is 



280 HISTORY OP^ AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

perfected, that all its features are entirely as we would 
prefer. You know how much I deprecated the incorpora- 
tion into the proposed bill of tlie income feature. In 
matters of this kind, however, which do not violate a fixed 
and recognized Democratic doctrine, we are willing to de- 
fer to the judgment of a majority of our Democratic 
brethren. I think there is a general agreement that this 
is a party duty. 

" This is most palpably apparent when we realize that 
the business of the country timidly stands and watches 
for the result of our efforts to perfect tariff legislation, 
that a quick and certain return of prosperity waits upon a 
wise adjustment, and that a confiding people still trust in 
our hands their prosperity and well being. 

" The Democracy of the land plead most earnestly for 
the speedy completion of the tariff legislation which their 
representatives have undertaken ; but they demand not 
less earnestly that no stress of necessit}^ shall tempt those 
who trust to the abandonment of the Democratic princi- 
ple. Yours very truly, 

Grover Cleveland." 

This letter, extraordinary as to time and sentiment, 
gave rise to a variety of comment, most of which was hos- 
tile. It threw the warmest friends of the Wilson Bill into 
panic, lest it would widen the breach between the two 
Houses, and thus defeat its object, or the passage of any 
tariff bill at all. The Republicans, and eminent constitu- 
tional lawyers, regarded it as effrontery, or something 
worse, on the part of the President, and it wns denounced 
as the rankest violation of the privileges of the legislative 
branch of the Government in the history. 

As the letter was a blow aimed at the Democratic Sena- 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 281 

tors, Avhose acticnis in iin[)(isiiig duties on articles wITk-Ii 
had been made free in the House bill were eharaeterized 
as "alike violative of Democratic principle and Demo- 
cratic good faith," it was naturally they who were most in- 
terested in and incensed at its contents. They could not 
understand how the President could prove so vindictive, 
and so free to charge bad faith, when he had been con- 
sulted relative to changes in the Senate bill and had 
given Senators of his party to understand that such 
clianges liad his concurrence. Some of the Senators, such 
as Senator Gorman of Maryland, looked upon the letter 
as a personal drive at them, and they determined to resent 
it. Senator Hill of New York, who liad all along been 
one of the bitterest opponents of the President, found 
comfort in the letter because it suited his views as to the 
Democratic doctrine of free raw materials. The Repub- 
licans saw in the letter a concession of the President to 
trusts of all kinds — to the Sugar Trust, in his plea for a 
duty on sugar; to the Nova Scotia Coal Syndicate, in his 
plea for free coal; to the Cuban Iron Syndicate, in his 
plea for free iron ore. It was evident to fiiend and foe of 
the bill that tlie President had thrown his great weight 
into the House scale, and that the future of the tariff bill 
was to be an issue in the Senate. 

Under the House rules, in cases of disagreement, the 
bill was referred back to the Senate, where it became the 
subject of lengthy and acrimonious debate, not between 
political opponents, but between Democratic factious. 
The President was excoriated by Democratic Senators for 
his violation of Democratic principles in daring to inter- 
fere with the prerogatives ctf the legislative branch of the 
Government. Said Senator Vest of Missouri, " Mr. Cleve- 
land is a big man. But the Democratic party is greater 



282 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

than any one man. It liad survived Jefferson, Madison, 
Jackson ; it would survive Grover Cleveland. Under 
what clause of the Constitution did Mr. Cleveland get the 
right, after a bill had been sent to full and free confer- 
ence between the two Houses, to make any appeal to his 
party friends to stand by his individual views ? " 

But of all the arraignments of the President by Sena- 
tors of his own party, that of Senator Gorman of Maryland 
was the severest. He said that in "patriotism the Demo- 
cratic Senate had gone to work to save the country and 
keep their party in power, when suddenly in the midst 
of their work came the President's letter. It was most 
uncalled foi-, the most extraordinary, the most unwise 
communication that ever came from a President of the 
United States. It placed the Senate in a position where 
its members must see to it that the dignity and honor of 
the chamber must be preserved. It places me in a position 
where I must tell the stor}' as it occurred. The limit of 
endurance has been reached." 

Senator Gorman then went on to tell the history of the 
tariff bill after its introduction into the Senate. He 
showed how Senators Jones and Vest had had frequent 
conferences with the President and Secretary Carlisle dur. 
ing the progress of the work; how Secretary Carlisle had 
endorsed the completed Senate bill; how no one who had 
been consulted had. ever suggested that the bill was in 
violation of Democratic principles. Mr. Gorman called 
on Senators Vest, Jones and Harris to substantiate the 
truth of his assertions, and each of them rose in his place 
and did so. 

After this dramatic vindication, Senator Gorman went 
on to denounce the President in immeasured terms, and 
defended the position the Senate had assumed. His de- 



HISTORY OF AMKUK'AN TARIFFS. 283 

nunciatioii and defiance of the President created the 
greatest excitement in the Senate and made a deep im- 
pression on tlie party and tlie public. It turned the in- 
dictment of the Senate contained in tlie President's letter 
to Mr. Wilson, into an indictment (,)f tiie President. If 
there had been deceit anywhere it had been with the 
President and not with the Senate. Of course Mr. Cleve- 
land was defended by his friends in the Senate, but they 
could not break the force of Mr. Gorman's arraignment. 
The gage of battle was down and there could be no sur- 
render till time came with her balm for the wounds and 
bruises of inter-party conflict. 

The Democratic majority was now in such a wrangle in 
the Senate that a caucus was called to smooth its future 
pathway. After a two days' session this caucus determined 
to send the bill back to a conference committee without 
instructions to the conferees, the prevalent feeling being 
that no greater calamity could befall the party than failuie 
to pass any tariff bill at all. It took several days to 
secure the sanction of the Senate to this decision of the 
caucus committee. But on July 27th, the resolution of 
reference passed by the slimmest of majorities, and the 
Senate was hajipily rid of the bill for a second time. 

In this second conference the situation was, at first, the 
same as before. The Senate conferees were not prepared 
to make concessions. Mr. Wilson, on the part of the 
House was as emphatic as before in his opposition to the 
Senate bill. Under these unfavorable auspices, confer- 
ences were brief and uninteresting for a time, but the 
impression daily grew that with the help of President 
Cleveland, who seemed now to have entire master}' of the 
House situation, early and important revelations might be 
expected. 



284 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

Pending these conference discussions, the Senate com- 
mittee, appointed to investigate the charges of senatorial 
collusion with the Sugar Trust, made a majority report 
exonerating all Senators from the charges made. A 
minority report showed that the Sugar Trust had made 
campaign contributions for corrupt purposes, and that it 
had secured the very legislation it desired. But the in- 
vestigation had been partial and farcical, and the conclu- 
sion reached by the majority of the committee was so at 
odds with the testimony as published from time to time, 
that the report was classed by friend and foe as a bald 
piece of " whitewashing." 

The conference committee on the tariff held sessions 
with little show of agreement till August 9th, when the 
Democratic members of the House, in disappointed and 
disgruntled mood, resolved to call a party caucus, as the 
Senate had previously done, to agree upon and force a 
line of procedure which would end the dead lock in the 
conference, and bring about a bill which could be passed 
by both Houses. Though this caucus had not the sjmi- 
pathy of Mr. Wilson and Speaker Crisp, nevertheless it 
was attended by one hundred and sixty-six Democratic 
members, most of whom were determined to shape matters 
so as to bring about some decisive result. But by means 
of conciliatory speeches, and promises of an early agree- 
ment by the conferees, they were induced to withhold 
hasty and radical action, and the resolutions they had pre- 
pared were not passed. Mr. Crisp regarded the caucus as 
a " back fire from its own House." Mr. Wilson feared 
that any action the caucus might take would cause the 
Senate to withdraw entirely from the conference. He 
looked upon the situation as a crucial one for the fate of 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 285 

the bill, and regarded lime and patience as the two virtues 
wliieli were essential to furtlier success. 

The general effect of the caucus was to spur the con- 
ferees on the part of tiie Senate to sharper action, for it 
became apparent that a motive existed on the part of the 
Mouse conferees to consume more time than could be 
spared if the Senate was to hold the points it had gained. 
The S3nnpathy of tlie President was so decidedly with the 
House, and the inllucnce that could bo wielded was so 
powei'ful, that dalliance on the part of the Senate invited 
the defeat of the measure. Consequently the Senate con- 
ferees made an overture to place iron ore on the free list. 
This was met by a counter proposition on the i)art 
of the House conferees to put coal on the free list. 
The Senate refused to accept this, and the conferees were 
as much at sea as ever. The conference finally broke up 
entirely. On August 11th, the House conferees met and 
endeavored to hold another joint session witli the Senate 
members, but the latter did not respond. 

There were, at tliis critical juncture, several methods of 
procedure open to the House conferees, and tiiat especially 
since they were in physical possession of the bill ; but the 
one that seemed to be most approi)riate and forcible was 
to make the surrender demanded by the Senate, agree to 
pass the Senate bill as it stood, and trust to the future for 
vindication. This action was, however, not deemed en- 
tirely safe till after an expres.sion of party o})inion in a 
caucus called fur the purpose. Such caucus was called, 
August 13th, and the sentiment in it was that policy dic- 
tated the surrender of the House to the Senate. On the 
same day the House passed the Senate bill without change 
by a vote of 182 yeas to 105 nays, the vote being a part}- 
one, with the exception of twelve Democrats who voted 



286 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

with the Republican niinoiity. At the same time and 
under rules specially framed for the purpose, the House 
passed a series of "pop-gun" bills placing coal, iron ore, 
sugar and barbed wire on the free list. This was done as 
a protest against the position the House had been forced 
into by the Senate, and with a view to future political 
effect, as no serious thought existed anywhere that the 
Senate would considei sucli bills favorably, or even coun- 
tenance the design embraced in their passage by the 
House. 

The attitude of surrender thus assumed by the House 
was regarded as humiliating in the extreme. None felt the 
blow more keenly than Mr. Wilson, the father of the bill, 
and he depi'ecated the surrender in pathetic language. 
Speaker Crisp looked more o^jtimistically on the situation, 
and favored the surrender. Many of the ablest ex- 
ponents of Democratic faith denounced it bitterly, as in- 
glorious, and as calculated to cause the country to doubt 
the sincerity of Democratic convictions and the ability of 
the party to solve successfully the economic problems it had 
in hand. The Republicans very naturally took advantage 
of the opportunity afforded them to point out Democratic 
inconsistency and weakness, and they made the pitiable 
situation the occasion for some of their most satirical and 
brilliant speeches President Cleveland came in for a 
large share of animadversion as well as satire, by those 
who regarded the surrender as more that of the executive 
tlian of the House, and his share in contributing to it by 
means of his unwise letter to Mr. Wilson as larger than 
that of any other one man or body of men. 

This very remarkable action of the House, as well as 
general tenor of the bill, drew forth many opinions and 
provoked wide newspaper discussion. Very few Democrats 






HISTOKY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 287 

were satisfied witli the result. Man}'- expressed them- 
selves for publication in the bitterest and angriest terms. 
Their leading party papers could not see how such a con- 
summation could have been reached after the bold utter- 
ances and solemn pledges of the Chicago platform ; after 
the very pronounced views and serious advice of President 
Cleveland upon tariff reform ; after the shameful exposures of 
the operations of the sugar, iron and coal trusts, and their 
dominancy in part}^ affairs ; after the pointed letter of the 
President setting forth the Senate modification of the 
original Wilson bill as an act of "party perfidy and dis- 
honor " ; after a year of heated discussion and energetic 
effort. 

What the countr}^ needed most at this juncture, and 
after an agonizing wait, was a settlement of the tariff 
issue in some form. Tliis it demanded both as relief from 
suspense and as a means of recuperation from a period of 
severe depression. All parties were a unit on this point. 
But the passage of the Wilson Tariff bill, or to be more 
exact, the Gorman-Brice Senate bill, did not prove to be 
such a settlement as was promised and expected. It was 
a bill which had been tortured out of original shape, and 
twisted from original intent by amendments, substitutes 
and counter influences. It had been rendered intricate, 
erroneous, and impossible of clear and speedy execution. 
It had been emasculated by trick}' and cowardly compro- 
mises. The very best that could be said of it by even its 
warmest friends was that it was a break into the ])rinciple 
of protection, an entering wedge of free trade, an encour- 
agement to further agitation, a successful skirmish pre- 
paratory to greater battle, a presage of larger victory, all 
of which, while hopeful for a cause, was just the opposite 
of what the country had been yearning for through the 



288 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

eartliqiiake of panic and the long, dark midnight of crisis 
and depression. There was not only no settlement of a 
pervading, vital issue, but, on the contrary, a prospect of 
further unsettlement. 

The curiosities of legislation respecting the bill were not 
yet ended. When the House " pop gun " bills went to 
the Senate, they were met there by advices from the 
Secretary of the Treasury to the effect that any change in 
the sugar schedule looking to the placing of sugar on the 
free list — and the same was said of iron ore and coal, 
though they were not so important — would reduce the 
revenues of the Government below its expenses. The 
Senate was only too glad too accept this as a justification 
of its past actions and as an excuse for paying no atten- 
tion to the House bills. It passed the main bill August 
17th, and sent it to the President. 

And now much speculation arose as to what the Presi- 
dent would do with it. A spell of illness had taken him 
away from the capital for a time. This served to increase 
speculation and anxiety. After his favoritism toward the 
original Wilson bill, his stout adherence to tariff reform, 
his hostility toward the Senate bill and his denunciation 
of its adherents and advocates, the opinion was widespread 
that he could do nothing to save himself from stultifica- 
tion and uphold his reputation for firmness but veto the 
bill outright. 

Another current of opinion viewed such action as suici- 
dal in a party sense, and saw no duty ahead for the Piesi- 
dent but to approve the bill. A subdued branch of this 
sentiment inclined toward that indefinite and shirking 
sanction, found in the permissive clause of the Constitu- 
tion, making a bill a law after the lapse of ten days, both 
Houses being in session. The fact that the President 




Kn'ITE NEf.SON. 



Born in Norway, Veh. 2, 1848; migrated to U. S., 1849; moved from 
Chicago lo Wisconsin, 1850; thence to Minnesota, 1871 ; served in 4th 
Wisconsin Reg. during Civil War; wounded and prisoner at Port 
Hudson, La., 1863; admitted to bar, 18()7 ; member of Wisconsin 
Legislature, 1868-69; Dist. Atty. of Douglas co., Mi:-.n., 1872-74; 
State Senator, 1875-78; Presidential Elector, 1880; member of Board 
of Regents, 1882-93; elected Governor of Minn., 1892 ; re-elected, 1894 ; 
elected U. S. Senator, 1895 ; Chairman of Committee on Mississippi Im- 
provement, and member of Committees on Commerce, Immigration, 
Railroads and U. S. University. 




William J. Sewell. 

Born in Ireland, i8;)5 ; migrated early; engaged in mercantile 
pursuits; Captain of otli N. J. Vols, in Civil War; brevetted Brigadier 
for service at Chancellorsvilie; promoted to Major-General ; Official in 
N. J. branches of Pa. R. R; State Senator, 1872-80; President of 
Senate, 1876-1880; elected to U. S. Senate, 18S1; Delegate to Rep. 
Nat. Conventions, 1876, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892; Nat. Com. to Col. 
Fair; V.-P. of Managers of Nat. Home for Disabled Vols.; Com- 
mander of 2d Brigade of N. J. ; connected with various banks, trusts and 
Philanthropic societies ; re-elected to U. S. Senate, March 3, 1895 ; 
Chairman of Com. on Enrolled Bills; member of other Committees. 



HISTORY OF AMKIUCAN TARIFFS. 291 

remained absolutely non-coiiiniittal, added to his absence, 
and the further fact that every day the bill remained un- 
signed enured to the enrichment of the sugar and whiskey 
Trusts, intensified the anxiety respecting the fate of the 
bill, and multiplied conjectures. 

Even after the President's return to Washington in 
better health, he refused to relieve the tension. Both 
Houses agreed to adjourn on August 28, at two P. M. The 
bill drifted into a law at midnight of August 27, 1894, 
without the President's sanction and signature. The 
only sentiment he made public respecting its fate was in 
a letter, dated August 27, addressed to Mr. Catchings of 
Mississippi and Mr. Clarke of Alabama, in which he said 
that he felt the utmost disappointment at being denied 
the privilege to sign such a bill, as he had hoped to see 
passed — one which embodied Democratic ideas of tariff 
reform. He did not claim to be better than his party, 
nor intend to shirk any of its responsibilities, but the bill 
contained provisions not in the line of " honest tariff 
leform," and also "inconsistencies and crudities which 
uugiit not to appear in tariff laws." He would not sepa- 
irale himself from his party by a "veto of tariff legislation 
w hich, though disappointing, was chargeable stillto Demo- 
cratic effort." Besides, there were incidents attending 
the passage of the bill in its later stages which made every 
" sincere tariff reformer unhappy," and which " ought not 
tu be tolerated in Democratic reform councils." Yet he 
luoked to the bill as a " barrier against the return of mad 
protection," and a " vantage ground for further operations 
against protected monopoly." 

The President grew warmer as his letter proceeded. He 
said he took his "place with the rank and hie of the 
Democratic party, who believe in tariff reform and who 
17 



292 HISTORY OF AMEKICAN TARIFFS. 

know what it is, who refused to accept the results em- 
bodied ill this bill as the close of the war, who are not 
blinded to the fact that the livery of Democratic tariff 
reform has been stolen and worn in the .service of Repub- 
lican protection, and who have marked the places where 
the deadly hllyht of treaaon has blasted the counsels of the 
brave in the hour of their might. The trusts and combina- 
tions — the communism of pelf — whose machinations have 
prevented us from reaching the success we deserved, 
should not be forgotten nor forgiven. We shall recover 
from our astonishment at their exhibition of power, and 
then if the question is forced upon us whether they shall 
submit to the free legislative will of the people's repre- 
sentatives or shall dictate the laws which the people must 
obey, we will accept that issue as one involving the in-_ 
tegrity and safety of American institutions." 

This animated and caustic letter concluded with an 
exhortation to Democrats to stand by the principle of free 
raw material, and censured those who refused to put coal 
and iron ore on the free list. The letter provoked wide 
discussion and received the severest criticism of the Presi- 
dent's party associates, some of whom denounced it as 
more fatal to Democratic political prospects than his 
Wilson letter had proven to be the cause of tariff leform. 
They refused to see in it an excuse for not signing the 
tariff bill, and looked upon the entire party situation as 
fur more complicated and serious than if the President had 
signed the bill without conniient. 

In its practical workings the Wilson Tariff Act proved 
faulty in two important respects. First, its income fea- 
tures were declared to be unconstitutional by the Supreme 
Ci>urt of the United States. Second, it failed to raise 
sufficient revenue to meet tlie wants of the Treasury. 
Whetlier in other respects it is meeting the theories of its 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 293 

authors and advocates is more a matter of discussion tliau 
history. Protectionists have never ceased to attribute the 
industrial and financial depression, extending from 1893 
to 1896, to its presence. They see in it, when coupled 
with other measures relating to finance, the source of 
those ills that characterized the entire period of Presi- 
dent Cleveland's second administration. Whether they 
are correct or not, is again a matter of discussion. 

But there are some historic contrasts tliat cannot be 
avoided by anyone. Says Mr. Mulhall, the great Euglisli 
statistician, in speaking of this country from 1880 to 1890 : 

" It would be injpossible to find in history a parallel to 
the progress of the United States in the last ten years. 
Ever}^ day that the sun rises on the American people it 
sees the addition of if2,500,000 to the accumulation of 
wealth in the Republic, wdiich is one-third of the daily 
accumulation of all maidvind outside of the United States." 

In the first year of the operation of the McKinley Tariff 
Act the Goverment receipts weve -^37,239,763 in excess 
of expenditures. In 1892 the receipts were 89,904,453 
greater than expenses, and in 1893, #2,341,674 greater. 

In the first year of the operation of the Wilson Tariff 
Act, the Government recei[)ts ran -f 42, 805, 223 behind ex- 
penses, and in the second year aliout -$30,000,000 behind. 

In 1893, under the iNIcKinley Act, the im[)()rtati()n of 
woolen goods amounted onh' to $i30,000,000 in value, from 
which the Treasury received •'134,000,000 in revenue. 
Under the new tariff, in 1895. notwithstanding the re- 
duced per capita consumption of such goods, the importa- 
tion aggregated -'i!60,000,000, from which the Government 
received a revenue of oidy -f 27, 000,000. From wool and 
woolens together the Government obtained a revenue of 
nearly -f J4,000,000 in 1892 and only -$27,000,000 in 1895. 

Here was a loss of tl7;000,000 revenue in these two 



294 HISTORY OF AMERLCAN TARIFFS. 

articles. At the same time tlie manufactuie of -130,000,- 
000 of woolen goods was transferred to Europe. 

P^or the fiscal year of 1894, the last full year under the 
McKinley law, the exports of manufactures amounted to 
*183,718,484 in value. For the calendar year 1895, the 
first full official year under the Wilson Law, the exports 
of manufactures were $201,152,771, an increase of $17,™ 
434,287. But the exports of agricultural products in the 
corresponding periods showed a net decline of f 82,648,663. 

Hence the country gained in the exports of manufac- 
tures $17,434,287, and it lost in the exports of agricultural 
products $82,648,663, or a net loss of $05,214,356 in the 
exports of these two classes in a single year. In the 
total exports there was a net loss of §69,000,000 in the 
first calendar year of tlie new tariff as compared, with the 
last fiscal year of the old tariff. 

But when the imports are taken also into consideration 
the difference is still greater. Under the McKinley tariff 
in the period mentioned, the imports were $654,994,622. 
Under the Wilson tariff they were $801,663,490, showing 
a net increase of imports of $146,668,868. Add that 
amount to the net loss in exports and it shows a change 
in the trade balance of the United States of $215,000,000 
on the wrung side of the balance slieet. 

The Wilson Tariff Law had been in force nineteen 
months up to March 31» 1896. During that period the 
receipts from customs were $257,069,000, and the receipts 
from internal revenue were $201,069,000. During the 
first nineteen months of the operation of the McKinley 
Law the receipts from customs were $302,884,000, and the 
receipts from internal revenue were $231,222,000. The 
revenues under the Wilson Law were, therefore, about 
$76,000,000 b(!hind those of the McKinley tariff during 
the first nineteen months of both laws. 



HLSTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 295 

DRIFT OF TARIFF LEGISLATION ABROAD. 

The nations which occupy the Continent of Europe have, 
without exception, introduced into their commercial and 
industrial systems, within a very k\v years, the principle of 
protection. This has been marked by economists of every 
school. Great Britain alone has remained firm to her doc- 
trine of free-trade. On May 23, 1892, Lord Salisbury, the 
English Premier, delivered a speech at Hastings, in which 
he discussed the attitude of Great Britain as to her external 
trade. The speech, coming from so high an authority, cre- 
ated great exci cement among English Conservatives, drew a 
wide range of comment from the newspapers of the world, 
and seemed to presage a new departure in the applied eco- 
nomics of the realm. 

Its points, bearing on external trade, were : — 

"After all, this little island lives as a trading island. We 
could not produce in foodstuffs enough to sustain the popu- 
lation that lives in this island, and it is only by the great 
industries which exist here, and which find markets in for- 
eign countries, that we are able to maintain the vast popula- 
tion by which this island is inhabited. 

" But a danger is growing up. Forty or fifty years ago 
everybody believed that free-trade had conquered the world, 
and they prophesied that every nation would follow the ex- 
ample of England and give itself up to absolute free-trade. 

" The results are not exactly what they prophesied, but 
the more adverse the results were, the more the devoted 
prophets of free-trade declared that all would come aright at 
last. 

" The worse the tariffs of foreign countries became the 
more confident were the prophecies of an early victory, but 
we see now, after many years experience that explain it, 



296 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

how many foreign nations are raising, one after another, a 
wall — a brazen wall of protection — around their shores 
which excludes us from their markets, and, so far as they 
are concerned, do their best to kill our trade, and this state 
of things does not get better. On the contrary, it con- 
stantly seems to get worse. 

" Now, of course, if I utter a word with reference to free- 
trade, I shall be accused of being a protectionist, of a desire 
to overthrow free-trade, and all t^ie other crimes which an 
ingenious imagination can attach to a commercial hetero- 
doxy. 

" But, nevertheless, I ask you to set yourselves free from 
all that merely vituperative doctrine and to consider whether 
the true doctrine of free-trade carries you as far as some of 
these gentlemen would wish you to go. 

" Every true religion has its counterpart in inventions and 
legends and traditions, wb.ich grow upon that religion. The 
Old Testament had its Canonical books and had also its 
Talmud and its Mishna, the inventions of rabbinical com- 
mentat6rs. 

" There are a Mishna and a Talmud constantly growing 
up. One of the difficulties we have to contend with is the 
strange and unreasonable doctrine which these rabbis have 
imposed upon us. 

" If we look abroad into the world we will see it. In the 
office which I have the honor to hold I am obliged to see a 
great deal of it. 

" We live in an age of a war of tariffs. Every nation is 
trying how it can, by agreement with its neighbor, get the 
greatest possible protection for its own industries, and at the 
same time the greatest possible access to the markets of its 
neighbors. 

" This kind of negotiation is continually going on. It 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 297 

has been going on for the last year and a half with great 
activity. 

" I want to point out to you that what I observe is that 
while A is very anxious to get a favor of B, and B is anx- 
ious to get a favor of C, nobody cares two straws about get- 
ting the commercial favor of Great Britain. 

" What is the reason of that ? It is that in this great 
battle Great Britain has deliberately stripped herself of the 
armor and the weapons by which the battle has to be 
fought. 

" You cannot do business in this world of evil and suffer- 
ing on those terms. If you go to market, you must bring 
money with you. If you fight, you must fight with the 
v\ capons with which those you have to contend against are 
fighting. 

" The weapon with which they all fight is admission to 
their own markets, that is to say, A says to B : 'If you will 
make your duties such that I can sell in your market I will 
make my duties such that you can sell in my market.' 

" But we begin by saying that we will levy no duties on 
anybody, and we declare that it would be contrary and dis- 
loyal to the glorious and sacred doctrine of free-trade to 
levy any duty on anybody, for the oake of what we can get 
by it. 

" It may be noble, but it is not business. 

" On those terms you will get nothing, and I am sorry to 
have to tell }'ou that you are practically getting nothing. 

" The opinion of this country, as stated by its authorized 
exponents, has been opposed by what is called a retaliatory 
policy. 

" We, as the government of the country, have laid it 
down for ourselves as a strict rule from which there is no 
departure, and we are bound not to alter the traditional 



298 HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. 

policy of the country unless we are convinced that a large 
majority of the country is with us, because in these foreign 
affairs consistency of policy is beyond all things unnecessary. 

" But, though that is the case, still if I may aspire to fill 
the office of a councillor to the public mind, I should ask 
you to form your own opinions without a reference to tradi- 
tions or denunciations, not to care two straws whether you 
are orthodox or not, but to form your opinions according to 
the dictates of common sense — I would impress upon you 
that if you intend in this conflict of commercial treaties to 
hold your own you must be prepared, if need be, to inflict 
upon the nations which injure you the penalty which is in 
your hands, that of refusing them access to your markets. 

" The power we have most reason to complain of is the 
United States, and what we want the United States to fur- 
nish us with mostly are articles of food essential to the feed- 
ing of the people and raw materials necessary to our manu- 
facturers, and we cannot exclude one or the other without 
serious injury to ourselves. 

" Now, I am not in the least prepared, for the sake of 
wounding other nations, to inflict any dangerous or serious 
wound upon ourselves. 

"We must confine ourselves, at least for the present, to 
those subjects on which we should not suffer very much, 
whether the importation continued or diminished. 

"But what I complain about of the rabbis of whom I have 
just spoken is, that they confuse this vital point. They say 
that everything must be given to the consumer. Well, if the 
consumer is the man who maintains the industries of the 
country or is the people at large, I agree with the rabbis. 

" You cannot raise the price of food or of raw material, but 
there is an enormous mass of other articles of importation 
from other countries besides the United States which are 



HISTORY OF AMERICAN TARIFFS. i^^ 

mere matters of luxurious consumption, and if it is a ques- 
tion of wine or silk or spirits or gloves or lace, I should not 
in the least shrink from diminishing the consumption and 
interfering with the comfort of the excellent people who con- 
sume these articles of luxury, for the purpose of maintaining 
our rights in this commercial war, and of insisting on our 
right of access to the markets of our neighbors. 

" This is very heterodox doctrine, I know, and I should 
be excommunicated for maintaining it. 

" But, as one's whole duty is to say what he thinks to the 
people of this country, I am bound to say that our rabbis 
have carried the matter too far. 

"We must distinguish between consumer and consumer, 
and while jealously preserving the rights of a consumer who 
is co-extensive with a whole industry, or with the whole 
people of the country, we may fairly use our power over an 
importation which merely ministers to luxury in order to 
maintain our own in this s^reat commercial battle." 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY— AN HISTORIC 
REVIEW. 

GENERAL VIEW. 

The idea, or rather the doctrine, of reciprocal trade is by 
no means new. As a principle it has been long recognized 
in this country. In England it is what is called " Fair 
Trade," and is upheld by a school of economists and states- 
men who oppose " Free Trade," or seek to escape from the 
effects of " Free Trade," by a system which shall not be 
one-sided only. 

The doctrine, pure and simple, is this, if a nation does 
not impose duties on our goods entering its ports, we will 
not impose duties on its goods entering our ports ; and if 
a nation levies duties on our goods, we will levy duty on 
its goods. 

This, say fair-traders, is but the doctrine of lex talionis, 
tit-for-tat, as applied to trade. This, say free-traders, is the 
folly of imposing a double loss on ourselves. Thus, foreign- 
ers tax our products when they enter their ports. This 
imposes a loss on us. Then, in turn, we tax their products 
when entering our ports. This imposes a second loss on us. 
They say, that for an injury done us by others, we fine our- 
selves. When others impoverish us, we respond by a system 
of impoverishment. 

Protectionists eschew theories and refinements, and say 
that each country is a law unto itself respecting trade. All 
prosperous countries have been built on this principle. All 
recognize it in one way or another, whatever their outward 
profession-, oi present economic leanings. It is but the 
300 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 30i 

duty of caring for one's self. It is but the right to hve, 
and to enjoy advantages, if such exist. 

COMMERCIAL TREATIES. 

Reciprocity has for ages been established and determined 
between nations by means of commercial treaties. The 
usual process has been for two nations, about to treat, to 
consult their respective tariff lists, and to grant reductions 
of duties on the class of goods which they desire most to 
receive from each other. ^ Equally, each country seeks to 
secure the lowest rate of duty on the class of goods whose 
manufacture constitutes its own industry, and whose sale 
abroad it wishes to cultivate. Thus, England makes the 
best bargain she can for the foreign sale of her hardware and 
cottons, France for her silks and wines, Belgium for her 
iron products, the United States for her flour and meat. 
The free-trade countries of the world are the most prolific 
of reciprocity treaties, yet there never was a reciprocity 
treaty that did not recognize the doctrine of protection, else 
it would have been of no use. The essence of all com- 
mercial treaties is home-trade advantage, home-industry 
advantage, home-development advantage, whether directly 
by encouragement to labor and capital on the spot, or in- 
directly by reason of enlarged markets abroad. 

Says Leveleye, one of the ablest of French Political 
Economists, and a pronounced free-trader: — " Commercial 
treaties are useful in assuring to industry what is so essential 
to it, the fixity of foreign customs dues throughout the period 
embraced by the treaty. Nowadays commercial treaties are of 
more importance than political treaties, for it is on com- 
mercial treaties that the progress of industry in each country 
in a great measure depends, and also what is no less im- 



3M AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

portant, the development of commercial relations and com- 
munity of interest between different lands." 

" MOST FAVORED NATION " CLAUSE. 

Very often the parties to commercial treaties stipulate that 
each of them shall enjoy all the advantages that may come 
to, or be secured by, the other through a reduction of duties 
between it and still other countries. This has come to be 
known in diplomacy as '' tlic most favored natioJi clause ',' a 
term which grows more familiar each year. It stands thus: 
— England agrees to abolish, or reduce to a minimum, her 
duties on French silks, as a concession to France for so re- 
ducing, or abolishing, her duties on English cottons. But 
at the same time England says to France, and it is agreed, 
that if you succeed in getting similar terms with an}' other 
country by reason of a desire for your silks, we expect our 
cottons to follow in the wake of your silks. The favors 
your silks secure for you must extend to our cottons. So 
France says to England, and it is agreed, that if you succeed 
in getting similar terms with any other country by reason 
of a desire for your cottons, we expect our silks to follow 
in the wake of your cottons. The favors your cottons 
secure for you must extend to our silks. Thus " tlic most 
favored nation clause'' may suffice to carry the favorite pro- 
duct of a highly industrial and ingenious nation, with com- 
mercial facilities, into every mart of the world. 

This extension of, and refinement on, the principle of 
reciprocity as established by commercial treaties, is only an 
enlargement of the spirit of advantage between nations. 
Clearly, nothing is given without something, and the like, 
is expected. As nations do not trade for pure love of the 
thing, something more is expected than is given, if not 
directly, at least indirectly. But this is protection, says 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 303 

the protectionist, for each nation seel^s to advantai;e itself, 
and it matters not whether it proceeds on tlie principle of 
denial or concession. Not so, says the free-trader; it is 
free-trade, for the moment you concede the principle of 
concession you repudiate that of denial, or, in other words, 
discrimination by duties. And so economists bandy theories, 
and prove to the world that their science is weightier in 
words than worth. 

But while commercial treaties have been the usual, almost 
the sole, means of establishing reciprocity, or reciprocal 
trade, between commercial nations, they have been slow and 
cumbrous of formation and operation, and alwa}^s costly of 
negotiation. They have proved of doubtful construction 
and uncertain worth, except where the inducement to make 
them was very great, and the power to enforce them reposed 
in the contracting parties. New and weak countries were 
placed at a disadvantage by them, even if the inducement to 
make them existed, and, indeed, no such inducement could 
exist till a country was sufficiently advanced to have some- 
thing substantial to offer for what it desired to receive. 

POSITION OF THE UNITED STATES. 

As long as the United States was going through its early 
experiments with free-trade and protection, there was hardly 
a thought of reciprocit)- or reciprocal trade as we have come 
to understand it. In all the early arguments respecting the 
advantages of protection by means of duties on foreign im- 
ports, the central thought was that protection was necessary 
in order to foster infant industries. There was hardly any 
diversity of opinion about this. Statesmen of all parties and 
economic schools joined in the thought and sought by 
speech and vote to establish the principle. Politics did not 
seriously tinge a tariff debate as long as the idea was 



304 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

dominant that the infancy of industry required the protective 
hand of the Government. In this the most pronounced 
free-traders had the sanction and support of the Enghsh 
economic writers, who, ahnost without exception, admitted 
the doctrine that in order to estabhsh and foster infant in- 
dustries, protection was right in law and morals. England 
had universally and persistently applied the principle, till 
she had grown rich, powerful and, independent by means 
of it. 

It was not until 1824, when the old arguments respecting 
the uses of protection began to be tinged by partyism, that 
attention began to be turned seriously to the advantages of 
reciprocal trade. The country was then sufficiently ad- 
vanced to make it a question in the minds of statesmen. 
Free-traders, the very ones who had all along favored pro- 
tection as a means of fostering infant industries, now turned 
their arguments against protection in general. The peculiar 
condition of the country, divided into a strictly planting 
class, with unpaid labor at its command, and a manufactur- 
ing, commercial and more diversified industrial class, with 
only paid labor at its command, contributed to the change 
of sentiment and the tone of argument. The planting class, 
with its unpaid labor, saw a menace in the growth of manu- 
factures and commerce, with their paid labor. The system 
of free, paid labor was a harsh contrast with, and a standing 
threat upon, the system of slave, unpaid labor. Established 
manufactories and profitable commerce were proving a 
source of wealth, population, importance and comfort, which 
mio-ht in the end overshadow the planting class and its 
geographic section, even if it did not endanger the slave 
institution. 

Therefore the free-traders injected into their opposition to 
protection the argument that protection had already done 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 305 

its legitimate work in grounding and fostering the young 
industries of the country, and was no longer necessary. 
They said it was a stretch of power any how on the part of 
the government, and was no longer justified. They said 
that inasmuch as it could be of no earthly use to the plant- 
ing sections, it was unfair for the nation to legislate in the 
interest of the manufacturing and commercial sections. 
They attacked the constitutionality of tariff legislation. As 
time went on, and the issue of slavery became more a mat- 
ter of question, the tariff debates brought out in stronger 
lines the above arguments. The doctrine of free-trade took 
passionate and almost sectional turn. It came nearer than 
ever to cleaving and dividing politics. Calhoun did not 
hesitate to declare that the further fostering of industries by 
means of protection would destroy the planting class and 
the institution of slavery ; that the object of free-trade, as he 
advocated it, was to strike a blow at paid labor and the 
prosperity of the manufacturing classes ; that the tariff sys- 
tem was so unfair, so unconstitutional, such an infliction on 
the States of his section, as to warrant nullification of tariff 
laws, and if this did not provide an escape from their opera- 
tion, then secession would be justified. 

THE NEW PROTECTIVE IDEA. 

These arguments were so ably maintained, and the situa- 
tion became so serious, as to force the protectionists on to 
new ground. It is no disparagement to their numbers or 
ability to say that they could no longer maintain themselves 
on the plea of protection to infant industries — the common 
ground of all statesmen in the beginning. They were com- 
pelled, or perhaps the time had arrived for it, to broaden 
their ground, and to make it more secure by a new declara- 
tion of protective principles by, one may say, a new depar- 



3o6 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

ture in political economy. This became the dawn of those 
doctrines which, elaborated by time and modified by cir- 
cumstances, comprise American protection as enunciated by 
modern statesmen, and as they seek to embody them in 
protective legislation. 

The gist of these doctrines is, that as labor constitutes a 
very large per cent, of the cost of an article, the true meas- 
ure of protection is a duty which will cover that element of 
cost, and thus save our labor from competition with the low- 
priced labor of foreign countries. Along with this goes the 
doctrine that the free-list may safely embrace only those 
articles which are impossible of production with us by rea- 
son of our soil, climate and natural a^antages. 

POLICY OF SUBSIDY. 

Abreast of this doctrine is another, daily growing more 
momentous, and one which has been enforced by the fact 
that our genius and facilities tend to overcrowding in our 
own markets ; it is, that the very best protection that can be 
afforded in such case is the establishment of steamship lines 
to carry our surplus products to those who need them most, 
or to those of whom we buy most and to whom we have to 
pay most. This has been a favorite and universal means of 
protection with all commercial countries, and it has been 
employed at great outlay on the part of those countries in 
the way of pay, or subsidy, to said lines, first in order to 
start them, and second in order to maintain them. But this 
means of protection has not yet been reached in this coun- 
try. Subsidy is a word our people cannot yet abide. No 
theory of protection that embodies the word directly has 
ever yet been framed in this country that could withstand 
the assaults of its opponents. The reason is that it appeals 
too directly to the capitalistic or monopolistic spirit and 




Born at Chelsea, Vt., July 9, 1840; moved to Madison, Wis., 1851 > 
graduated at State University, 1858 ; studied law at University of Al- 
bany, N. Y., 1860, and admitted to bars of New York and Wisconsin ; 
Began practice at Madison, July 9, 1860; entered Union army, and 
mustered out as Lieutenant-Colonel of 23d Reg. Wis. Vols. ; a Professor 
in Law Department of State University since 1868; Regent of same, 
1880-85; member Board of Revision of Statutes, 1878 ; elected to Wis- 
consin Legislature, 1885 ; delegate to Democratic National Conventions, 
1876-80-84 ; appointed Postmaster-General by President Cleveland, 
March 7, 1885; appointed Secretary of Interior, January 16, 1888; 
elected to United States Senate, January 28, 1891 ; member of Com- 
mittees on Civil S.-cvice, Pensions, Judiciary, Post Offices and Roads 
and Public Lands. 




Hon. Adi-ai E. Stevenson. 

Born ill Chiibtiaii co., Ky., October 23, 1835 ; moved to Bloomington, 
111., 1852; educated at Wesleyan University and Centre College, Ky. ; 
began practice of lawr in Metamora, 111., December, 1858; Chancery 
Master of Woodford co., 1861-65; State's Attorney, 1865-69; Demo- 
cratic Presidential Elector, 1864 ; moved to Bloomington, 1869 ; elected 
to 44tli and 46th Congresses ; member of Board of Visitors to West 
Point, 1877; First As.sistant Postmaster-General, 1885-89; elected Vice- 
President on Democratic ticket, 1892; took his seat March 4, 1893. 



AMERICAN RECirROClTY. 309 

class. On the part of the government it is too direct a kind 
of paternahsm. As to the recipients, it is too special a gift. 
It is no answer to all this, as yet, to say that as no other 
commercial country ever succeeded in protecting itself 
through the establishment of steamship lines, except by 
starting and fostering them by subsidies, so this country has 
not done, and can never be expected to do, the same with- 
out the employment of similar' agencies. Nor is it, as yet, 
a sufficient answer to say that the word subsidy in this con- 
nection can only be rendered offensive when narrowed to 
its apparent recipients, who really ought not to be consid- 
ered at all, or, if considered, ought to find their true infini- 
tesimal place in comparison with the tens of thousands of 
manufactories, the hundreds of thousands of laborers and 
farmers, and the millions of capital, which an exit for our 
over products would keep employed. 

POLICY OF RECIPROCITY. 

Still further, abreast of this doctrine is the policy of 
reciprocity ; or, as we had better say, the principle of 
practical, or applied, reciprocity, rendered conspicuous, as 
formulated in the Tariff Act of 1890, and adopted as a 
measure of the Harrison Administration. This policy pre- 
sumes that we ought to have better outlet for our manufac- 
tures. It presumes that direct trade with those from whom 
we buy most and to whom we sell least, would be a most 
desirable and advantageous trade to establish, as serving to 
balance accounts without draining us of gold cash. It 
presumes that, as to certain countries at least, notably 
those nearest to us, and especially those whose products 
we take largely and which we cannot duplicate at home, 
we are in a position to offer what they require, of as good 
quality and on as fair terms, as they can secure elsewhere. 



310 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

It presumes that inasmuch as we are sufficiently advanced 
and sufficiently well off to remit entirely duties on their pro- 
ducts, — most of which are necessaries of life, and hitherto 
subjected to duty for sheer purposes of revenue, — and ac- 
tually do remit such duties, that they ought to reciprocate 
by either abolishing or lowering their duties on articles we 
send to them. Not to do so would be unreciprocal. It 
would be for us to enlarge our inducements for their trade, 
by removing duties upon it, and for them to reject these 
inducements by refusing to modify or abolish duties on our 
trade. 

COUNTRIES MOST INTERESTED. 

It is clear to every one that the countries most directly 
affected by what may now be called the American policy 
of reciprocity, are those countries to the south of us, which 
comprise Mexico, Central America and South America. 
To these may be added other countries whose, or any part 
of whose, products are as theirs are. This being so, even 
the casual student of history will be struck by a comparison 
of two American continental epochs or eras, the one political^ 
the other coinnicrcial. 

Let us take the political one and consider it. It began 
in 1787, the date on which our Republican experiment was 
launched, the date of our Federal Constitution. Add thirty 
years to it, so as to make it embrace a period up to the date 
of what may be called general and successful revolt against 
Spanish supremacy in South America, and the establishment 
of the South American Republics. Fix this date at say 
about the year 1824. These thirty years, or thereabouts, 
saw the United States engaged in finding a permanent place 
for her political institutions. She was manfully meeting the 
trials to which young countries are subjected, and especially 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 311 

those countries that have been compelled to conquer their 
independence by means of war, and have been bold enough 
to dare a political experiment at odds with the systems, tra- 
ditions and instincts of the mother countries. She was 
heroically and successfully passing through the stages — 
many of them severe, even to the point of a second war — 
which led up to full independence, to universal recognition 
of her right to exist as a government and nation, and to that 
conspicuous place in the firmament of Western Republics, 
which made her a cynosure in the eyes of all. 

At the beginning of this period what did she find ? The 
entire continent to the south of her was Spanish. Spanish 
political domination was complete as it could be, all things 
considered. Then came the gradual breaking away from 
foreign and monarchical moorings, under the lead of brave 
generals, like Boliv^ar, under the influence of enlarged ideas 
of freedom, under the inspiration furnished by the success 
of the northern experiment. 

So busy had the United States been with her own exper- 
iment, that she had not had time to more than note what 
was going on to the south of her. Her own expanse was 
so ample, her resources so sufficient, her thought so dis- 
tinctive, as that political confederacy on the continent had 
not occurred to her, or at least had taken no definite shape. 
Neither had political co-operation, or, in other words, polit- 
ical reciprocity, taken even vague shape. Sympathy existed 
for every effort looking to the breaking of the Spanish yoke. 
Indirect encouragement was offered to the erection of every 
republican temple founded on the ashes of European mon- 
archy. But that was all, until the time should come when, 
her own political destiny being assured, and a new order of 
statesmen having arisen, the Republic of the North could 
afford to recognize in a more direct manner those of the South. 



312 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

POLITICAL INTEREST OF THE UNITED STATES IN SOUTH AMER- 
ICAN REPUBLICS. 

It was in iSo8 that the interference of Napoleon with the 
aff^iirs of Spain enabled the South American republics to 
rejoice in the assurance of their own autonomy. But a long 
struggle was necessary in order to establish the independ- 
ence they hoped for. For twenty years they looked vainly 
for succor or approval from European monarchies. They 
had been all along looking to the Republic of the North, 
and copying her splendid example. They now began to 
look for substantial recognition, and they found in Henry 
Clay their earliest and ablest champion. In iSi8 Mr. Clay 
made a passionate appeal in the House of Representatives 
for their recognition, and in the same year the condition of 
the South American provinces became a subject of consid- 
eration at a cabinet meeting, James Monroe being President. 
Four years afterwards, the recognition they sought from the 
United States came, and it was soon followed by recognition 
on the part of Great Britain. In the next year, 1823, Pres- 
ident Monroe, in his message to Congress, and in discussing 
the relation of foreign powers toward those on the Ameri- 
can Continent, said : 

" In wars of European powers, in matters relating to 
themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does it com- 
port with our policy to do so. It is only when our rights 
are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent injuries or 
make preparation for our defence. With the movements in 
this hemisphere we are of necessity more immediately con- 
nected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlight- 
ened and impartial observers. The political system of the 
allied powers (of Europe) is essentially different in this 
respect from that of America. This difference proceeds 
from that which exists in their respective governments. 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 313 

And to the defence of our own which has been achieved by 
the loss of so much blood and treasure, and matured by the 
wisdom of our most enlightened citizens, and under which 
we have enjoyed unexampled felicity, this whole nation is 
devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor, and to the ami- 
cable relations subsisting between the United States and 
those powers, to declare that we sJiould consider any attempt 
on their part to extend their system to any portion of tins hem- 
isphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the ex- 
isting colonies or dependencies of any European power we 
have not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the 
governments who have declared their independence and 
maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great 
consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, zve could 
not vieiv any interposition, for the purpose of oppressing them, 
or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any En- 
r.'-pean pozver, in any other light than as the manifestation of 
an unfriendly disposition toward the United States!' 

This was the " Monroe Doctrine; " this the note of warn- 
ing, to monarchical Europe to keep hands off the political 
destiny of a Continent. It was of this doctrine that Daniel 
Webster, in a speech in the House, April, 1826, upon the 
subject of an appropriation to send a mission from the 
United States to the South American Congress at Panama, 
said : 

" I look on the message of December, 1823, as forming a 
bright page in our history. I will neither help to erase it 
or tear it out, nor shall it by any act of mine be blurred or 
blotted. It did honor to the sagacity of the government, 
and I will not diminish that honor. It elevated the hopes 
and gratified the patriotism of the people. Over those hopes 
I will not bring a mildew, nor will I put that gratified patri- 
otism to shame." 



314 AMBRICAN R^ClPROCI'TY. 

CONGRESS OF REPUBLICS. 

In 1 82 1 the Republic of Colombia suggested the idea of 
a closer connection between the Spanish colonies in Central 
and South America. In July, 1822, and before their inde- 
pendence had been recognized by the United States, Colom- 
bia and Chili negotiated a treaty looking to a Congress of 
the new Republics, resembling the one already constructed 
in Europe (The Holy Alliance, which was an attempt to 
fetter all Europe with absolute monarchy), and having for 
its object " The construction of a continental system for 
America." 

The idea ripened slowly, though it was sedulously cher- 
ished by Bolivar and other leaders, Bolivar being then at 
the head of the Republic of Peru. It was not until De- 
cember 7, 1824, that he issued his invitation to the Repub- 
lics south of us, to meet in conference at Panama. Most 
of them accepted, and the " General Assembly of the Amer- 
ican Republics " met at Panama, June 22, 1826. 

What was singular about this Congress or General As- 
sembly was that it was no part of Bolivar's design to invite 
the United States to participate. The Republics of South 
America had abolished African slavery in 18 13. Doubtless 
Bolivar felt that the interest which the United States had at 
that time in preserving and extending slavery would tend to 
embarrass her acceptance of an invitation, or make her an 
unwelcome, if not dangerous, participant. The invitation to 
the United States came from Colombia and Mexico, after an 
inquiry through Mr. Clay as to whether it would be accep- 
table to President Adams. Mr. Adams was so far satisfied 
as that he appointed two representatives to the Congress or 
Conference, subject to the " advice and consent of the 
Senate." 

In his message to the Senate, Mr, Adams gave among 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 3i5 

Other reasons for his action the following, which is valuable 
in this connection as showing the dawn of the idea that 
mutual commercial intercourse with the South American 
States might well become a subject of consideration in such 
a conference as that proposed. He said : 

" But the South American nations, in the infancy of their 
independence, often find themselves in positions with refer- 
ence to other countries, with principles applicable to which, 
derivable from the state of independence itself, they have 
not been familiarized by experience. The result of this has 
been that sometimes in their intercourse with the United 
States they have manifested dispositions to reserve a right 
of granting special favors and privileges to the Spanish na- 
tion as the price of their recognition ; at others, they have 
actually established duties and impositions operating unfavor- 
ably to the United States, to the advantage of European poiv- 
ers ; and sometimes they have appeared to consider that 
they might interchange among themselves mutual conces- 
sions of exclusive favor, to which neither European powers 
nor the United States should be admitted. In most of these 
cases their regulations unfavorable to us have yielded to 
friendly expostulation and remonstrance ; but it is believed 
to be of infinite moment that the principles of a liberal com- 
mercial intercourse should be exhibited to them and urged 
with interested and friendly persuasion upon them, when 
all are assembled for the avowed purpose of consulting 
together upon the establishment of such principles 
as may have an important bearing upon their future wel- 
fare." 

The debate in the Senate upon the proposed mission was 
exceedingly acrimonious. Serious charges were brought 
against President Adams, and the policy and purposes of 
his administration were denounced as dangerous. It was 



3^6 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

declared that the mission would lead to international com- 
plications. The slave-holding members affirmed that in 
reference to the rest of America, as well as to Europe, 
slavery must be and remain the prime motive of the foreign 
policy of the United States, and they said that they saw in 
the conference peril to their "peculiar institutions," for the 
history of these Southern Republics as to slavery furnished 
an example "scarcely less fatal than the independence of 
Hayti to the repose of the slave States of the Union." 
They had not only copied from the revolutionary records of 
the United States the words "freedom," "equality" and 
" universal emancipation," but had actually broken the 
chains of all slaves. 

THE COMMERCIAL THOUGHT UPPERMOST, 

The defenders of the proposed mission and of the Presi- 
dent's action made many elaborate arguments for their side, 
all of which embraced in some form the idea of more ex- 
tended and intimate commercial intercourse, upon the basis 
of mutual or reciprocal trade. When Mr. Adams was asked 
by the House for further information respecting his view 
and his action he responded in a lengthy message, in which 
he said : — 

" The first and paramount principle upon which it was 
deemed wise and just to lay the corner-stone of all our 
future relations with them was disinterestedness ; the next 
was cordial good will to them ; tlic third zvas a claim of fair 
and equal reciprocity T 

Then in further allusion to the commercial idea he said : — 

" It will be within the recollection of the House that im- 
mediately after our War of Independence a measure closely 
analogous to this Congress of Panama was adopted by the 
Congress of our Confederation and for purposes of precisely 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 3x7 

the same character. Three commissioners with plenipoten- 
tiary powers were appointed to negotiate treaties of amity, 
navigation and commerce with all the principal powers of 
Europe. They met and resided at Paris for one year, for 
that purpose, and the only result of their negotiations was 
our first treaty between the United States and Prussia, 
memorable in the diplomatic annals of the world and pre- 
cious as a monument of principles in relation to commerce 
and maritime warfare, with which our country entered upon 
her career as a member of the great family of independent 
nations." 

In the Senate, the Committee on Foreign Affairs reported 
against the expediency of sending ministers to the Panama 
Congress, but afterwards, and very grudgingly, approved the 
President's selection. The House, after long delay, agreed 
to appropriate the necessary funds. The ministers were 
sent, but delay had done its designed work. They were too 
late for the Conference, which had adjourned previous to 
their arrival. Mr. Clay, then Secretary of State, was much 
mortified at the failure, and the President, in 1829, in allud- 
ing to the failure said to the Senate : — "While there is no 
probability of the renewal of the negotiations, the purposes 
for which they were intended are still of the deepest inter- 
est to our country and to the luorld, and may, hereafter, call 
again for the active energies of the Government of the United 
States!' 

It. might be interesting in this connection to know that 
the South and Central American Republics continued to 
hold conferences for consideration and adjustment of their 
affairs and the unification of their interests. One was held 
at Lima in 1847, another in 1864, another was proposed at 
Panama in 188 1, which was prevented by the South Amer- 
ican wars, and another was held at Montevideo in 1888-89. 



3i8 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

The United States was not represented in any of them. 
The era of our political influence upon these Republics, 
whether by example, or by the encouragement extended in 
the " Monroe Doctrine," or by the comity intended by Mr, 
Adams, had ended with their freedom from monarchical 
yoke and the assurance that they were forever committed 
to the Republican spirit. 

COMMERCIAL BONDAGE OF THE REPUBLICS. 

But singular as it may seem that political freedom was 
followed by commercial bondage. Commercial Europe set 
her head for conquest, and with her immense facilities over- 
ran the marts from which the Spanish warships had been 
driven. This invasion has become well nigh complete. 

We now come to the second era above mentioned — the 
commercial. We have seen how the end of the political 
era witnessed the dawn of the idea of commercial reciproc- 
ity with the Southern Republics. The idea lay dormant, 
so far as the United States was concerned, through the 
period devoted to working out its own i idustrial and com- 
mercial independence. The industrial and commercial pe- 
riod from 1824 to i860 maybe likened to the political 
period prior to the Revolution. The industrial and com- 
mercial period from 1861 to the present may be likened 
to the political period from 1787 to 1 824, each of these pe- 
riods being considered with reference to our relations to the 
Southern Republics. Strange to say, the above period from 
1 86 1 to the present corresponds in length with the period 
from 1787 to 1824, at whose end we took political cogniz- 
ance of these Republics and witnessed their freedom from 
European monarchy. 

The settlement of our sectional differences by civil war, 
the establishment of a system of finance which gives us 



AMERICAN RKCIPROCITY. 319 

rank among the nations, the practice of protection which 
made us industrially and commercially independent, brings 
us to a point of time when our example and influence must 
affect the countries of our continent to the south of us in a 
commercial sense, just as they were affected in a political 
sense. If their commercial subjugation by Europe is as 
complete as was their political subjugation by Spain, and 
their independence as desirable, they may well look once 
more to us for something which in commerce shall be the 
equivalent of the " Monroe Doctrine " in politics. We arc 
in a position to extend it, at least that is the significance ot 
practical reciprocity. 

A PEACE CONGRESS. 

What President Adams called " the deepest interests 
of our country," and what he prophesied might " hereafter 
call again for the active energies of the Government of the 
United States," began its culmination with the invitation of 
President Garfield for all the independent governments of 
North and South America to meet in a Peace Congress at 
Washington. It has been given out that he aimed at some- 
thing more than a mere code of arbitration in case of dis- 
putes which might lead to war among American states, 
and that he contemplated making commercial reciprocity a 
leading feature of his administration. His death frustrated 
his design. 

A MORE COMMERCIAL THOUGHT. 

President Garfield's invitation was recalled by President 
Arthur in order that the Congress might be given opportu- 
nity to consider the advisability of the step. Just as soon 
as the Congress began to deliberate upon the matter, the 
subject took wider and wider range, and the idea of recip- 
rocal commerce became a conspicuous feature. On Jan- 



320 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

uary 21, 1880, Senator Davis of Illinois first threw his 
suggestion of an " International American Conference" into 
a Senate Bill in which occurred the following words : — 

" Whereas from the southern boundary of the United 
States to the Argentine Republic, and also the Republic of 
Chile, a distance of about 4,500 miles, including Mexico, 
Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, Pe/u, Ecuador, 
Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, containing a popu- 
lation of, in all, about 40,roo,000 industrious ynd progressive 
people, with whom 'he United States hcfd, and d?cire to 
maintain, the most fr';ndly relations, <4nd with whom a 
closer and reciprocal inter ot in trade and commerce ought 
to be encouraged,' etc. 

The Davis proposition looked to this " closer and recip- 
rocal interest in trade and commerce " by means of a great 
southern railroad connecting the three Americas. 

On April 24, 1882, Senator Cockrell, of Missouri, intro- 
duced into the Senate a bill similar to the above, whose 
object was the " appointment of a special commissioner fo»* 
promoting intercourse with such countries of Central and 
South America as may be found to possess natural facilities 
for railway communication with each other and with the 
United States." 

On the same date, April 24, 1882, Senator Morgan, of 
Alabama, introduced a kindred bill, " for the encouragement 
of closer commercial relations between the United States 
and the Republic of Mexico, Central America, the Empire 
of Brazil and the several Republics of South America." 

Similar bills were introduced into the House, all looking 
to " the promotion of commercial intercourse " with the 
countries to the south of us, all of which were reported 
adversely by the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

In 1883 Senator Sherman reintroduced into the Senate 



Ar.IIvRICAN RIvCU'ROClTY. 321 

the Morgan Bill of 1882. In the first session of the Forty- 
r.'ighth Congress, Mr. Townsend, of Illinois, introduced a 
;oint resolution, " inviting the co-operation of the Govern- 
nents of American nations in securing the estabHshnicnl of 
tee conmiercial intercourse among those nations and an 
American Customs' Union." 

On March 3, 1884, Senator Cockrell introduced a Senate 
bill authorizing a commission to Central and South Amer- 
ica " for the purpose of collecting information looking to 
the extension of American trade and commerce," etc. This 
bill was reported favorably by the Committee on Foreign 
Afifairs. 

Before taking action on this bill, the Committee on For- 
eign Affairs of the Senate requested the views of Mr. Fre- 
linghuysen, Secretary of State, as to the proposed legisla- 
tion. He reviewed the entire question very fully in his 
reply of March 26, 1884, and fully set forth the advantages 
of reciprocity with these countries. His arguments pointed 
directly to reciprocity as a necessity, in case duties were 
greatly lowered, or entirely removed, on the products of 
these countries. 

"I am," said he, "thoroughly convinced of the advisa- 
bility of knitting closely our relations with the States of 
this Continent, and no effort on my part shall be wanting to 
accomplish a result so consonant with the constant policy 
of this country and in the spirit of the Monroe Doctrine, 
which, in excluding foreign political interference, recognizes 
the common interest of the States of North and South 
America. It is the history of all diplomacy that close po- 
litical relations and friendship spring from unity of com- 
mercial interests 

The true plan, it seems to me, is to make a series of reci- 
procity treaties with the States of Central and South 



322 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

America, taking care that those manufactures, and as far as 
is practicable those products, which would come into com- 
petition with our own manufactures and products should 
not be admitted to the free list. By these treaties we might 
secure for valuable consideration so as not to violate the 
most-favored-nation clause of other treaties, further substan- 
tial advantages. Such, for example, as the free navigation 
of their coasts, rivers and lakes. 

" Indiscriminate reduction of duties on materials pecu- 
liarly the production of Central and South America would 
take from us the ability to offer reciprocity, and we would 
thus lose the opportunity to secure valuable trade. Re- 
moval of duties from coffee, without greatly cheapening its 
price, deprived us of the power to negotiate with the coffee- 
growing countries of Spanish-America highly advantageous 
reciprocity treaties, and indiscriminate reduction of duties 
on sugar would complete our inability to establish favorable 
commercial relations with those countries which form our 
natural market, and from which we are now almost entitely 
excluded. If we confine the reduction of duties on such 
articles as sugar and coffee to those Spanish-American coun- 
tries which are willing to negotiate with us treaties of reci- 
procity, we cheapen these products for our own people and 
at the same time gain the control of those markets for the 
products of our fields and factories." 

STARTLING REVELATIONS. 

The report of the House Committee, to which two of the 
above bills had been referred, was most elaborate and con- 
tained some startling revelations as to trade with these 
countries. It showed their total commerce in 1883 to be 
;^752,9i8,ooo, in which the United States participated only 
to the extent of ^142,282,000. It showed that their imports 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 323 

to the United States amounted for that year to $93,319,000, 
whereas we sent in turn to them only ^48,963,000. It 
quoted from the work of a recent commercial traveller 
through those States, to this effect : 

" It always grieved me exceedingly, and was particularly 
offensive to my sense of the fitness of things, to find almost 
everything in the way of foreign merchandise, throughout the 
length and breadth of my routes, of European manufacture. 
At different points along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, in 
many cities of the plains, in various towns on the mountain 
slopes, on the apex of Potosi and on the tops of other An- 
dean peaks higher than Mount Hood, I have gone into 
stores and warehouses and looked in vain — utterly in vain — 
for one single article of American manufacture. From the 
little pin with which the lady fastens her beau-catching 
ribbons to the grand piano with which she enlivens and 
enchants the hearts of all her household ; from the tiniest 
thread and tack and tool needed in the mechanic arts to the 
largest plows and harrows and other agricultural implements 
and machines required for use on the farm — all these and 
other things, the wares and fabrics and light groceries and 
delicacies in common demand ; the drugs and chemicals sold 
by the apothecary ; the fermented, malt and spirituous liq- 
uors in the wine saloon ; the stationery and fancy goods in 
the book-store; the furniture in the parlor and the utensils 
in the kitchen, are, with rare exceptions, of English, German, 
Spanish, or Italian manufacture. And what makes the 
matter still more unsatisfactory and vexatious to the North 
American and more expensive and otherwise disadvantageous 
to the South American, is that these articles are, as a gen- 
eral rule, inferior both in material and make to the corre- 
sponding article of American manufacture." 

The report favored the appointment of a commission to 



324 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

these countries. A bill authorizing such coniniission was 
passed, and George H. Sharpe, New York, Solon O. Thaclier, 
Kansas, and Thomas C. Reynolds, Missouri, were appointed 
Commissioners, with Mr. W. E. Curtis as Secretary. They 
sat in our principal cities, visited the countries of Centr.il 
and South America, and made valuable reports from time to 
time. 

On December 21, 1885, Mr. Townsend, of Illinois, rein- 
troduced his resolution into the House, looking to an Amer- 
ican Customs' Union. It was reported adversely, as was a 
bill providing for international arbitration. The same fatal- 
ity befell similar bills in the Senate. 

GROWTH OF THE COMMERCIAL THOUGHT. 

On February 22, 1886, Senator Frye, of Maine, intro- 
duced an elaborate bill into the Senate " to promote the 
political progress and commercial prosperity of the United 
States." It provided for an American International Con- 
gress at Washington on October i, 1887, and suggested a 
list of subjects to be considered, which list embraced: 

1. Measures of peace and prosperity. 

2. An American Customs' Union. 

3. Regular and frequent steamship lines. 

4. Uniform system of customs regulations. 

5. Uniform weights and measures. 

6. A common silver coin. 

7. A definite plan of arbitration. 

On March 29, 1886, Mr. McCreary, of Kentucky, intro- 
duced in the House a bill " authorizing the President to 
arrange a conference for the purpose of encouraging peace- 
ful and reciprocal commercial relations between the United 
States and Mexico, the Central American and South Amer- 




Hon. John M. Pauier. 
Born in Scott co., Ky., September 18, 1817 ; moved to Illinois, 1831 ; 
studied at Alton College; admitted to bar, 1839; elected Probate Judge 
of Macoupin co., 1843; member of Constitutional Convention, 1847; 
elected County Judge, 1848 ; elected to State Senate, 1852; elected to 
State Senate, 1855, as Anti-Nebraska Democrat ; Delegate to Republican 
National Convention, 1856 ; candidate for Congress, 1859, on Republican 
ticket and defeated; member of Peace Conference, 1861; entered Union 
army (1861) as Colonel of 14th Illinois Regiment ; promoted to Brigadier 
General, 1861; promoted to Major General, 1863; commanded Htli 
Army Corps, 1863; operated on Mississippi, with army of Cumberland 
and with Sherman to Atlanta; elected Governor of Illinois, 1868; 
nominated for Governor on Democratic ticket, 1888, and defeated; 
elected U. S. Senator, as Democrat, 1891 




StEPHKN .M. ^rillTK. 



Born in San Francisco, Cal., Jan. 19, 1853 ; graduated from Santa Clara 
College, 1871 ; admitted to practice of law, 1874; ]iracticed and resided 
in Los Angeles co. ; District Atty. of his co., 1882 ; Chairman of Dem. 
State Convention, 1884 and 188(5; elected to State Senate, 188(5; acting 
Lieut. -Governor, 1888; temporary President of Dem. Nat. Con. at St. 
Louis, 1888; Del. at Large to Dem. Nat. Con., 1892; elected to U. S. 
Senate, 1893 ; member of Committees on Census, Coast Defences, Com- 
merce, Finance, Irrigation and Territories. 



AMERICAN RKCIPROCITY. 327 

ican States." On the same day Mr. McKinley, of Ohio, 
introduced a bill favoring an Arbitration Conference. 

On April 15, 1886, Mr. McCreary, of Kentucky, reported 
his bill from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, with a com- 
plete text and favorable report. It provided for an Inter- 
national Conference at Washington, and for '' considering 
questions relating to the improvement of business inter- 
course between said countries, and to encourage such recip- 
rocal commercial relations as w^ill be beneficial to all and 
secure more extensive markets for the products of each of 
said countries." 

NECESSITY FOR RECIPROCAL TRADE. 

The report of the majority of the committee accompa- 
nying this bill was a very able one, and particularly valuable 
as a matter of economic and commercial history, and as 
coming from a committee not regarded as favorable to the 
reciprocity idea. 

The report set forth among other things : 

"The subject of establishing closer international relations 
between all the Republics of the American continent and 
also the Empire of Brazil, containing in the aggregate one 
hundred millions of people, for the purpose of improving 
the business intercourse between those countries and secur- 
ing more extensive markets for the products of each, is both 
interesting and important. Sixty years ago this subject 
was discussed and a conference was suggested between rep- 
resentatives of our Government and the other Governments, 
and President John Quincy Adams appointed representa- 
tives to the Congress held at Panama to consider measures 
for promoting peace and reciprocal commercial relations 
between said countries. This Conference was beneficial, 
but at that time our people were looking more to Europe 



328 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

for business and commerce than to the countries south of 
us, and no action was taken by our Congress. Now the 
United States is at peace with all the world and our popu- 
lation and wealth make this the foremost Republic of the 
world, and our Government should inaugurate the move- 
ment in favor of an American Conference. 

" The present depression of business and low price of 
farm products are caused, to a considerable extent, by a 
limited market for our surplus products. Some of the best 
markets we can look to are not far beyond our southern 
border. They are nearer to us than to any other commer- 
cial nation. The people of Mexico and of Central and 
South America produce much that we need, and our abun- 
dant agricultural, manufactured, and mineral productions 
are greatly needed by them. These countries cover an area 
of 8,118,844 square miles, and have a population of 42,- 
770,374. Their people recognize the superiority of our 
products, and desire more intimate business intercourse 
with our people, but the great bulk of their commerce and 
trade is with Europe. The Argentine Republic has from 
forty-five to sixty steamships running regularly between 
Buenos Ayres and European ports, and no regular line be- 
tween that country and the United States, and our commer- 
cial facilities with the other republics of Central and South 
America are about the same. 

" In 1884 our exports were valued at ;^733, 768,764. 

" Of this amount we exported but ;^64,7i9,ooo to Mexico 
and South and Central America. 

" Our annual mechanical and agricultural products are 
valued at ^15,000,000,000, while we seldom have sold more 
than ,^75,000,000 worth of these products to our nearest 
neighbors, who buy in Europe at least five times as much 
as they get here. 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 329 

"The total commerce of the countries named in 1883 
was as follows : Imports, ;^3 3 1,100,599; exports, ^39 1,294,- 
781. 

" Of the ;^3 3 1,100,599 of merchandise sold to those coun- 
tries, the share of the United States was only ^42,598,469; 
yet we are their closest neighbor. 

" The disparity of our trade with Peru, Chili, Argentine 
Republic and Brazil is both amazing and humiliating. 

To From Great From United 

Britain. States. 

Peru $6,235,685 I743.IOS 

Chili 11,060,880 2,211,007 

Argentine Republic 29,692,295 4)3i7i293 

Brazil 33,946,215 7.3i7>293 

" The consumption of cotton goods in Central and South 
America and in Mexico amounts to nearly $100,000,000 an- 
nually, and although they are so near our cotton-fields, 
England furnishes about 95 per cent, of these goods. 

" Cotton fabrics constitute the wearing apparel of nearly 
three-fourths of those people, and they have to import all 
they use. 

" England monopolizes this trade because of her cheap 
transportation facilities, and because her mills furnish goods 
especially adapted to the wants and tastes of the consumers, 
which our mills have never attempted to produce. 

" It is very important that transportation facilities between 
the United States and her southern neighbors should be im- 
proved ; for as long as the freight from Liverpool, Hamburg 
and Bordeaux is ^15 a ton, they cannot be induced to pay 
1140 a ton to bring merchandise from the United States. 

" There is not a commercial city in these countries where 
the manufacturers of the United States cannot compete with 



330 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

their European rivals in every article we produce for ex- 
port. 

" The report of the South American Commission shows, 
by the testimony of the importing merchants of those coun- 
tries, that aside from the difference in cost and convenience 
in transporting, it is to their advantage to buy in the United 
States, because the quality of our products is superior, and 
our prices are usually as low as those of Europe." 

AN OPPOSING VIEW. 

Mr. Belmont presented a minority, and opposing, report 
to the above bill. In discussing it from a commercial stand- 
point, he made quite prominent a fact, if not a principle, 
though unintended on his part, that was fully recognized 
when reciprocity was introduced into the Tariff Act of 1890. 
He said : 

" Nothing is now so desirable for our own people as a free 
and reciprocal interchange of products between ourselves and 
the people of other nations on this continent. But what now 
hinders such free interchange so mush as our tariff laws? 
If this Government shall invite Brazil, Mexico and the Re- 
publics of Central America and South America to join us in 
a conference to promote such free and reciprocal interchange 
of products, what concessions in our tariff schedules is the 
President to be authorized to instruct our commissioners to 
propose on our part? The question of our own tariff will 
naturally and immediately come up for discussion and con- 
sideration. Shall, for example, our commissioners be au- 
thorized to offer to the Argentine Republic to admit its wool 
into our ports free of duty ? 

" No one can be more sensible than I am of the great ad- 
vantages which in our country flow from that free commer- 
cial intercourse, unvexed by tariffs or custom-houses, which 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 331 

the Federal Constitution secures. I wish by some possible 
and wise contrivance those advantages ncnv enjoyed by and 
between Maine and CaHfornia, Florida aiul Alaska, could be 
realized by and between every nation and every producer on 
this hemisphere from Baffin's Bay to Cape Horn. But is 
this Government now in condition to successfully ask in a 
diplomatic way the accomplishment of such a result? To 
use Mr. Gladstone's language, should we not first of all 
begin to govern ourselves in tariff matters with 'justice and 
moderation?' And then, too, does opinion in this House 
tend to tolerate a reform or protective system by treaties? 

" One of the difficulties with which we in the United 
States have now to contend is that, by reason of our present 
tariff laws, we cannot in our own workshops compete with 
European manufacturers, notwithstanding the great advan- 
tage we have from the efficiency of better paid and better 
educated labor. So long as such tariff laws shall be main- 
ained it is not believed that any diplomatic negotiations will 
mable the United States to do in the Dominion of Canada, 
or in Mexico, or in Central America, or in South America 
what we cannot do at home — which is to compete with 
European manufacturers. Freedom to buy in these com- 
munities we now have, and we can enlarge its use to any 
degree, but freedom to sell to those conmiunities we can 
only enlarge by producing equally good articles which we 
will sell at least as cheaply as our European competitors. 
All schemes whatever for retaining a protective system and 
gaining foreign markets are impossible of success, no matter 
how many railways we may build or steamships we may 
subsidize. It will be seen from the statistics already given 
that a large part of the products of our neighbors to the 
south of us are now admitted at our custom-houses free of 
duty, but the difficulty of increasing the exports of our 



332 American reciprocity. 

manufactured products to those countries remains, because 
our protective tariff inflicts what, owing to the increased 
cost of manufacture, is in effect a/i exj^orf fax upon our prod- 
ucts, which frustrates the efforts of our enterprising and 
inventive people to have more complete possession of the 
neighboring markets upon this continent." 

ARGUMENTS FOR RECIPROCITY. 

It was not until May 6, 1886, that Senator Frye's bill, be- 
fore alluded to, was reported to the Senate by the Commit- 
tee on Foreign Relations. Its provisions were very like 
those of the McCreary bill. It was accompanied by a still 
more elaborate report than that in the House, which report 
included the reports made from time to time by the com- 
missioners who had visited the Central and South American 
countries. This report, or, rather, these reports, left little 
to be added upon the propriety of an international confer- 
ence, and the necessity for reciprocity in trade and com- 
merce. We first use the language of Commissioner 
Thacher : — 

" The peculiarities of the Latin race in America lead it 
away from manufacturing pursuits. Valencia centuries ago 
imported wool from England and returned it in cloths, but 
the process is now reversed. 

" Great Britain manufactures for the world, and Spain, 
with all the colonies she planted, contributes to her com- 
mercial supremacy. 

"In Spain there is cheap fuel and plenty of water-power. 
In Spanish America, from Mexico to Magellan, there are 
few coal-fields, but almost everywhere flowing streams, 
furnishing the cheapest and most abundant power. 

" Guatemala, Costa Rica, the western slopes of the Andes, 
Uruguay, and portions of the Argentine Republic have un- 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 533 

failing and enormous stores of this easily-used motor. Yet 
in Costa Rica I saw only two water-driven mills ; in Guate- 
mala there were a few more ; yet not one-thousandth part 
of the water-power was utilized. The Rimac for nearly 70 
miles is a dashing cascade, with only a tannery, a brewery, 
and possibly a few other industries at Lima holding in check 
for a few minutes its rushing flood. 

" Chili in the Mopocho and the Maipo has powerful 
streams, and hundreds of smaller water-courses find their 
way to the ocean. 

" The report from Uruguay calls attention to its internal 
water-power, and the statements submitted with the report 
from the Argentine Republic show how immense is the 
water-power in the Gran Chaco region. 

" We must conclude, then, that the want of manufactured 
products in these countries grows out of either or both of two 
causes ; the one a disinclination to take up the patient, 
steady routine of daily toil necessary to successful manu- 
facturing, and the other a greater profitableness in other 
more congenial pursuits. 

" Without dwelling on the point, I may say that it is safe 
to aver that these countries will for years be great consumers 
of foreign manufactured goods. 

" In Chili the war with Peru demoralized the soldiers, 
many of whom were taken from the ordinary pursuits, and, 
returning from their conquest, failed to take up the peaceful 
avocations they left ; and yet Chili is beyond doubt in manu- 
factories the New England of South America. The special 
report on this country fully covers this question. 

" In any trade relations we may establish with those coun- 
tries we may reasonably count on the permanence of the 
demand for our goods. 

"The larger portion of the commerce we are seeking has 



534 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

been in the hands of Great Britain, but of recent years 
another, and what promises to be a more formidable rival, 
has come to the front. 

"The German manufacturers, intrenched behind encour- 
aging and protecting legislative walls, have pushed their 
products far beyond the home demand. Always sure of 
their own market without competition, they have turned 
their unflagging energies to secure centers of trade in the 
Western Hemisphere. They are clever imitators of every 
new invention, of every improved machine, and of many of 
the most useful and popular goods produced in the United 
States. They send out counterfeits of the famous ' Colhns' 
wares, even to the very brand ; they make mowers and 
agricultural implements as nearly like ours as possible. Our 
sewing-machines are copied by these people, and the imita- 
tions are palmed off on the South American trade as com- 
ing from the United States. The character and ways of 
these new rivals for the trade of our neighbors is thus graph- 
ically portrayed by our former consul-general in Mexico, 
Mr. Strother, and I may add that what the German is in 
Mexico he is in all the other Central and South American 
nations. 

" General Strother says : 

" ' For the rest it will still remain with American manu- 
facturers and merchants to solve the question of successful 
competition with their European rivals, the most formidable 
of whom at present are the Germans, whose commercial 
establishments are more substantially planted and more 
widely extended than those of any other foreign nation. 
And it may be well here to note their methods and the 
causes of their success. The German who comes to Mexico 
to establish himself in business is carefully educated for the 
purpose, not only in the special branch which he proposes 



AMICRICAN RF.CirROClTY. 



33: 



to follow, but he is also an accomplished linguist, being 
generally able to converse and correspond in the four great 
commercial languages — German, English, French, and Span- 
ish, His enterprise is usually backed by large capital in the 
mother country. He does not come to speculate, or inflated 
with the hope of acquiring sudden fortune, but expecting to 
succeed in time by close attention, patient labor and economy, 
looking forward twenty, thirty, or even forty years for the 
realization of his hopes. He builds up his business as one 
builds a house, brick by brick, and with a solid foundation. 
He can brook delays, give long credits, sustain reverses, and 
tide over dull times. He never meddles with the politics of 
the country ; keeps on good terms with its governors, who- 
ever they may be. He rarely makes complaints through 
his minister or consul, but if caught evading the revenue 
laws, or in other illegal practices, he pays his fine and goes 
on with his business. With these methods and character- 
istics, the German merchant generally succeeds in securing 
wealth and the respect of any community in which he may 
have established himself.' 

" In a conversation with the British minister. Sir Spencer 
St. John, in Mexico, he observed to me that the success of 
the Germans in dealing with the revenue officials and in 
pushing their trade had driven out of Mexico every whole- 
sale English house, whereas the foreign commerce was once 
largely in the hands of his countrymen. 

" In passing from this point we must not forget that not- 
withstanding all this copying of our productions by the 
German manufacturer, yet the deception deceives few, and 
that were the markets open to our dealers the superior 
material, workmanship, and fidelity of our goods would defy 
all competition. 

" The French, equally protected by home legislation and 



336 American recii^rocitv. 

aTive to the wants of the South American markets, are in- 
creasing their trade there. 

" Ind«ed we must meet in the ports of our neighbors the 
wares of many of the European countries, all of which are 
borne to their destination in vessels flying their own 
national ensign." 

FURTHER ARGUMENTS. 

Mr. Reynolds, another of the Commissioners, discussed the 
reciprocal trade idea still more ably and exhaustively, and 
in fact left the matter in such shape as that the system of 
practical reciprocity incorporated into the Act of 1890 was 
the inevitable outcome of his logic. He says : 

"Among the means to secure more intimate commer- 
cial relations between the United States and the several 
countries of Central and South America, suggested in the 
first report of the Commission to those States (transmitted 
by the President to Congress on February 13, 1885, and 
printed as Ex. Doc. No. 226), were the following (p. 4) : 
* Commercial treaties with actual and equivalent reciprocal 
concessions in tariff duties.' As the words * actual and equiv- 
alent, were adopted at my suggestion, an explanation of 
their full force may not be superfluous. A stipulation in a 
treaty that certain products of one country shall be admitted 
free, or at a reduced duty, into another country, may, on 
paper, appear to offer a reciprocal concession for a like ad- 
mission of certain other products of the latter country into 
the former. But the seeming effect of it may be neutralized 
in various ways, so that it will be, to the one country or the 
other, not an actual concession. Chief among those ways 
are, the existence of treaties with other nations, placing 
them on the footing of the ' most favored nation,' export 
duties, home bounties, drawbacks, monopolies, and muni- 



American ri^cu'Rocity. 337 

cipal or other local taxation. The skill of the diplomatist, 
aided by information from consuls, merchants, shippers, and 
other experts in the question, should be exerted to frame 
the treaty so as to prevent the defeat of its real object by 
such collateral disadvantages and burdens. To explain them, 
or point out modes of removing them, severally, would 
unduly extend the length of this letter. 

" But one of them, the ' most favored nation clause,' de- 
serves special consideration. It is understood that Great 
Britain, Germany, and probably other countries, claim that 
a reciprocity treaty with the United States by a Spanish 
American country applies to them, under that clause in their 
treaties with the last-mentioned country, with the same 
effect as if their names had been in the treaty instead of or 
along with that of the United States. For example, should 
the United States, resuming import duties on coffee, grant 
to Brazil freedom from them, on the ' reciprocal concession ' 
that flour and certain American manufactures should be 
admitted free into that Empire, Great Britain, which con- 
sumes very little coffee of any kind, and probably none from 
Brazil, would claim the same freedom for her like manufact- 
ures. Thus, in return for our being customers of Brazil, 
in coffee to the amount of about ^50,000,000 annually. Great 
Britain, offering no ' equivalent ' concession in fact, would 
still be able to drive (or rather, keep) us out of the Brazil- 
ian market for those manufoctures which she can supply 
more cheaply or with greater facility through her lines of 
steamers. 

" After much thought on the subject, I have found no 
surer mode of making reciprocity ' equivalent ' than by ex- 
pressing in the treaty itself, and as a condition of it, the real 
object of every reciprocity treaty, the actual and equivalent 
increase of the commerce between the parties to it. For 



i 



338 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

illustration, should the United States make a reciprocity treaty 
with Spain for certain concessions designed to increase our 
exports to Cuba, in consideration of a reduction of our du- 
ties on Cuban sugars, the treaty should provide, that that 
reduction should exist only as long as Cuba imported from 
the United States at least a certain fixed amount in value 
annually, and Spain might justly require a like condition as 
to the annual amount of our imports of Cuban sugars. The 
custom-house returns of the two countries would readily fix 
the respective amounts, and the reciprocity of the treaty, 
whenever it ceased to be actual and equivalent, could be 
suspended by a proclamation of the President, on due notice 
to be provided for in the treaty. 

"As it is undeniable, and even generally admitted, that 
the * most favored nation clause ' entitles a country having 
the privilege of it to be merely ' on all fours ' with any other 
nation, and share the advantages of it only on the identical 
conditions accompanying them, such a proviso as that above 
mentioned would effectually block the diplomatic game 
which Germany is understood to have played upon us in 
Mexico, by claiming for herself the benefits of our recent 
reciprocity treaty with that Republic. Taking, in fact, no 
sugar and little tobacco or anything else from Mexico, she 
sagaciously offers to remit her duties on them, and claims 
for her exports to that Republic, mainly in manufactures 
the same concessions it made to the United States in order 
to mcrease rhe exports of its own products to our country. 
With such a proviso as that above suggested, Germany would 
be beaten on her own diplomatic ground. Mexico would 
be obligated by the * most favored nation clause ' only to 
offer to Germany the same treaty, imitatis mutandis, her 
name taking the place of that of the United States. As her 
imports from Mexico would not compare with ours, such a 



AMERICAN RliCIPROCITV. 339 

treaty would give her no actual advantage over us. So, 
also, with Cuba in her commerce with Germany, and prob- 
ably, also, with Great Britain and France. No one of 
those countries (France and Germany making their own beet- 
root sugar, and Gredt Britain being supplied principally by 
her own colonies) would be able to take from Cuba the 
amount of sugars which would be the treaty ' equivalent ' 
for the concessions made to the United States. 

"Another important consideration in deciding what kind 
of a reciprocity treaty to make, or whether to make it at all, 
is the effect it would have on some equally advantageous 
indirect trade. By driving out of some South American 
market some other country which trades with us, we may 
diminish the purchasing power of that country in our own 
mark-ets, and increased indirect trade with the former may 
not compensate us for a loss of trade with the latter. In 
this connection, the effect of several misused terms is to be 
deprecated. Generally when our imports from and exports 
to any particular country do not ba-lance at all, the very bad 
English is common of speaking of a ' balance of trade ' for 
or against us. It is refreshing to notice that in the reports 
of our Bureau of Statistics that improper phrase is discarded, 
and the difference between exports and imports is described 
as an excess of one over the other. An excess of imports 
over exports in a particular venture may represent a gain, 
and not a loss. A familiar illustration is that of a Boston 
ship which, in former times, would take a cargo belonging 
to the ship's owner, worth, say, ^ioo,000, to China, and re- 
turn with one, also belonging to the same owner, worth 
twice the amount. The difference, being the returns for the 
expenses of the voyage, the profit in China on the original 
venture, and that in Boston on the return cargo, would be 
all gain. The same may be the case with the entire com- 



340 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

nierce of one country with another, as could be amply shown 
from the statistics of British trade with Asia, given in Mr. 
Frelinghuysen's letter on the ' Commerce of the world.' 
Of course, in some other special case it might be otherwise. 

"Another very general error is to treat an excess of im- 
ports over exports in our trade with a particular country as 
a difference which we pay in cash. This is rarely, if ever, 
the case. It is usually paid in exchange on some other 
country, obtained by selling to it our own products. Brazil 
affords a very fair illustration. We take from that Empire 
directly products many millions in value in excess of what we 
send directly to it. That excess is paid for by exchange on 
London, based on our exports of provisions, cotton, etc., and 
with that exchange the Brazilian pays for English manufac- 
tures to be sent to Rio. The indirect trade may be differ- 
ent. The Englishman may sell his manufactures in Brazil, 
convert the proceeds directly, or indirectly by purchase of 
exchange, into coffee, with the proceeds of which in New 
York he purchases provisions to be sent to England. In 
either case the result is the same. England gains some 
profit in exchange, as London is the world's money centre, 
and in freights which her ships carry. But to the extent to 
which England is crippled in h r sales to Brazil, her pur- 
chasing power in our provision markets maybe diminished. 

" Therefore, before making a re^ iprocity treaty, we should 
carefully consider, in each particular case, whether, even 
with the profits in exchange and shij^ping in a direct trade, 
we may not be losing a more profitable commerce in a dif- 
ferent direction, by diminishing the power of others of our 
regular customers to purchase products from us." 

A STILL FURTHER VIEW. 

Mr. Curtis, Secretary of the Commission and afterwards a 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 341 

Commissioner, added a very interesting report, which still 
further elaborated the necessity for reciprocal trade. He 
said : — 

" During the last twenty years the value of the exports 
from the United States to the Spanish Americans was 
^442,048,975, and during that time we purchased of them 
raw products to the amount of ;^i, 185, 828, 579, showing an 
excess of imports during the twenty years amounting to 
;$765,992,2I9, which was paid in cash. It will thus be seen 
that our commerce with Central and South America has left 
a very large balance on the wrong side of the ledger, while 
those countries have all the time been buying in Europe the 
very merchandise we have for sale. Being the very reverse 
of the United States in climate and resources, they constitute 
our natural commercial allies, and the exchange should at 
least be even ; but they sell their raw products here and buy 
their manufactured articles in Europe. The principal reason 
for this is that the carrying trade is in the hands of English- 
men. The statistics show, that, of the total imports into 
the United States from Spanish America, which, in 1884, 
amounted to ^159,000,000, three-fourths were carried in 
foreign vessels. Of our exports to those countries, amount- 
ing last year to $64,000,000, $46,000,000 were carried in 
American vessels, while only $18,000,000 were carried by 
foreign vessels. It will thus be seen that nearly everything 
we buy is brought to us from Spanish America by English- 
men, while nearly everything we sell we have to carry there 
ourselves. The logic of these facts is irresistible. 

" The most absurd spectacle in the commercial world is 
the trade we carry on with Brazil. We buy nearly all her 
raw products, while she spends the money we pay for them 
in England and France. 

"In 1884, of the exports of Brazil $50,266,000 went to 



342 AMERICAN RKCirROClTY. 

the United States, ;^29,ooo,ooo to E:igland, and ^24,000,000 
to France. Of the imports of Brazil in 1884, ^35,000,000 
came from England, $ 1 5 ,000,000 from France, and ^8,000 poo 
from the United States. 

" Another peculiar feature of this commerce was that of 
the exports of Brazil to the United States ^$32,000,000 were 
carried in English vessels and ^9,000,000 in American 
vessels, while of her imports from the United States 
^6,000,000 were carried in American vessels and only 
;$2, 000,000 in English vessels. The trade is carried on by 
triangular voyages. Two lines of steamships sailing under 
the British flag load every week at Rio for New York. 
Arriving at the latter port they place their cargoes of coffee 
and hides in the hands of commission merchants, and sail 
for Europe, where they draw against these consignments, 
and buy Manchester cotton, Birmingham hardware, and 
other goods which they carry to Brazil. During the last 
twenty years this absurd spectacle has cost the United 
States $600,000,000, every cent of which has gone into the 
pockets of English and French manufacturers. We have 
not only paid for the goods that England has sold Brazil, 
but as we have had no banking connections with that coun- 
try and no ships on the sea, nearly every ton of this com- 
merce has paid a tax to English bankers and vessel-owners. 

" Several years ago, when we removed the import tax on 
coffee, Brazil put an export duty on, so that the attempt of 
Congress to secure a cheap breakfast for the workingman 
simply resulted in diverting several million dollars from the 
treasury of the United States into the treasury of Brazil, 
without changing the price of the article. Mexico and the 
countries washed by the Caribbean Sea produce a better 
qualit)' of coffee than is grown in Brazil, and if the United 
States Government would consent to discriminate against 




Hon. Shelby M. Cullom. 

Boi.; in Wayne co., Ky., November 22, 1829; next year parents 
moved to Tazewell CO., 111. ; educated at academy and university; ad- 
mitted to bar in Springfield and practiced there ; elected to State Legis- 
lature, 1856, 1860, 1872, 1874; was Speaker in 1861 and 1873; elected 
a Representative to 39th, 40th and 41st Congresses ; elected Governor 
of Illinois in 1876, and re-elected in 1880; resigned, February 5, 1883, 
to accept seat in United States Senate, as a Republican, and successor 
to Hon. David Davis; re-elected in 1888 and again in 1894; father of 
the Inter-State Commerce Law ; Chairman of Committee on Inter-State 
Commerce, and member of Committees on Census, Foreign Relations, etc. 




Hon. Tsiiam G. Harris. 

Born in Franklin Co., Tenn. ; educated at Winchester Academy; ad. 
niitted to bar at Paris, Tenn., 1841 ; elected as Democrat to State Legis- 
lature, 1847 ; elected to Congress as Democrat to represeni Ninth Con- 
gressional District, 1849 ; re-elected in 1851; moved to Memphis and 
continued law practice ; elected Governor of State in 1857, 1859 and 
1861 ; served during war as Aid to Commanding General of Confederate 
Army of Tennessee; resumed law practice at Memphis, 1867, elected 
the United States Senate in 1876; re-elected 1883,1889, and 1895-, 
an able debater, earnest statesman of the strict-construction school, and 
popular with his constituents. 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 345 

Binzilian coffee, raised by slave labor, the nations of Central 
America and the Spanish Main would reciprocate by ad- 
mitting free to their ports our flour, lumber, provisions, 
lard, dairy products, kerosene, and other articles which are 
now kept from the common people by an almost prohibitory 
tariff 

" Brazil is in such a critical condition, financially and com- 
mercially, that if we did not buy her coffee it would rot on 
the trees, and the Englishmen who control her foreign com- 
merce would have to close their warehouses and throw all 
the Brazilian planters into the bankrupt court. These Eng- 
lishmen have secured mortgages upon the plantations of 
Brazil by suppl}'ing the planters with merchandise on credit 
and taking the crop at the end of the season in payment; 
but as the crop seldom pays the advances, the mortgages 
have been lapping over upon the plantations, until now the 
Englishmen have the Brazilians by the throat, making their 
own terms, charging one profit on the merchandise sold, 
another as interest on the advances, a third on the coffee 
purchased, and a fourth as interest on payments deferred, 
while they make three profits out of us : first, on coffee they 
yell us ; second, on transportation charges ; third, in dis- 
counting our bills on London. 

" The greater part of our exports to Spanish America go 
to Mexico and the West Indies. Deducting these from the 
total, it will be found that we buy over 30 per cent, of what 
the South American countries have for sale, and furnish 
them only 6 per cent, of their imports. The balance of 
trade goes on piling up at the rate of nearly ;^ 1 00,000,000 a 
}'ear. This was not always so. Twenty years ago more 
than half the commerce of this hemisphere was controlled 
by the merchants of New York, Boston, and Baltimore, and 
r.'ore than half the ships in its harbors sailed from those 



346 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

ports. Now only a small percentage of the carrying trade 
is done in American bottoms, while English ship-owners 
who control the transportation facilities permit the Spanish- 
American merchants to buy in this country only such goods 
^s they cannot obtain elsewhere. 

" The. cause of this astonishing phenomenon is our neglect 
Vo furnish the ways and means of commerce. We can no 
more prevent trade following facilities for communication 
than we can repeal the law of gravity. While we have been 
pointing with pride at our internal development, England 
and France have been stealing our markets away from us. 
The problem of recovering them is easy of solution. The 
States of Central and South America will buy what we have 
to sell if intelligent measures are used to cultivate the mar- 
kets and means are provided for the delivery of the goods. 

" The Spanish-American nations seek political intimacy 
with the United States, and look to this, the mother of re- 
publics, for example and encouragement. They recognize 
and assert the superiority of our products. They offer and 
pay subsidies to our ships. Brazil now pays ^100,000 a 
year as a subsidy to an American steamship line, while the 
United States Government paid only ^4,000 last year to 
the same line for carrying our mails. The Argentine Re- 
public had a law upon its statute-books representing a stand- 
ing offer of a subsidy of 96,000 silver dollars a year to any 
company that will establish a steamship line between 
l^uenos Ayres and New York, under the American flag, 
and at the same time has twenty-one lines of steamships, 
sailing from forty-five to sixty vessels a month, between 
l^ucnos Ayres and the ports of Europe, to which it pays 
nothing. We have no steamship communication with the 
Argentine Republic whatever. During the last year, out 
of the millions of tons of shipping represented in the hjirbor 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 347 

of that metropolis, there were no steamers from the United 
States, and our flag was seen upon but 2 per cent, of the 
sailing vessels. Here is a nation purchasing in Europe 
$70,000,000 worth of merchandise every year, and only 
spending about $4,000,000 in the United States, and these 
$4,000,000 represent articles, such as petroleum, lumber, 
lard and other pork products, which could not elsewhere be 
obtained." 

THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE. 

The Senate passed the Frye bill on June 17, 1886, but it 
did not become a law until May 24, 1888, when the 
International American Conference became a possi- 
bility. 

It was for this Conference to give wider, fuller, more 
learned and disinterested consideration to the question of 
trade relations and reciprocal commerce between the 
American nations than ever before. It was called by the 
President to meet in Washington, October 2, 1889. Invita- 
tions were duly issued, and the Conference met with dele- 
gates present from Argentine, Bolivia, Brazil, Chili, 
Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hayti, Hon- 
duras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Salvador, United 
States, Uruguay, Venezuela. 

Hon. James G. Blaine was elected President of the Con- 
ference. It remained in session until April, 1890, and dis- 
cussed and reported upon all the subjects prescribed in the 
Act authorizing the call, to wit : — 

Plan of Arbitration ; Reciprocity Treaties ; Inter-Conti- 
nental Railway; Steamship Communication; Sanitary 
Regulations ; Customs Regulations ; Common Silver Coin ; 
Patents and Trade Marks ; Weights and Measures ; Port 
Dues ; International Laws ; Extradition Treaties ; Inter- 
national Bank. 



348 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

In the discussions upon " Reciprocity Treaties," all of 
Avhich were very able and interesting, two lines of thought 
appeared. That which represented all of the countries ex- 
cept Argentine and Chili, was in the direction of reci- 
procity, whose advantages were conceded, and whose 
practical operation needed but the encouragement of some 
acceptable concession on the part of the United States. 
The thought of Argentine and Chili seemed to be that reci- 
procity was impracticable, unless enlarged to suit the 
world, and that the United States was not yet so commer- 
cially strong, or was too hampered with her tariff system to 
offer the necessary concessions to all the nations. The 
attitude and the logic of these two States were fully met by 
the delegates of the United States in the Conference, show- 
ing in detail that the first stage of national growth is agri- 
cultural, the second is manufacturing, and the third is com- 
mercial. The first two stages with us have been reached, 
and we now enter upon the third. The same restless 
energy, the same enterprise, and the same inventive genius 
which gave success to agriculture and manufactures will 
mark the development of commerce. 

" The spirit of enterprise begins to spread like contagion 
into Central America. Imagination already paints on her 
canals the commerce of the woild. The locomotive is 
there a messenger of peace, the steel rail a bond of friend- 
ship. 

" Colombia and Venezuela and Brazil and Ecuador and 
Peru already feel the irresistible impulse which impels to a 
closer union. The Argentine and Chili may hesitate for a 
time, but finally they too will join hands with their sister 
Republics, and joyfully assist to fulfil the bright destiny 
that awaits us all." 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 349 

CONFERENCE REPORT AND BLAINE's REVIEW. 

The Conference adopted a Report which recognized the 
policy of reciprocity and the " need of closer and more re- 
ciprocal commercial relations among American States." 
Secretary Blaine submitted this Report to the President, 
June 19, 1890, with an exhaustive review of its contents. 
This review was so exhaustive, and is, moreover, such an 
important part of the literature of reciprocity, that inability to 
publish it here in full, for lack of space, is greatly regretted. 
But its gist was that out of a total of ^233,000,000 imports 
furnished to Chili and Argentine alone in 1888, England 
contributed $90,000,000, Germany $43,000,000, France 
$34,000,000, the United States only $13,000,000, and this, 
notwithstanding the facts that our ports were nearest, and 
the bulk of those imports were of articles we were actually 
manufacturing better and as cheaply as foreign nations. 

That in 1868 our total exports were $375,737,000, of 
which $53,197,000, or 14 per cent., went to Spanish America, 
while in 1888 our total exports were $742,368,000, of which 
$69,273,000, or only 9 per cent., went to Spanish America. 

That it was the unanimous judgment of the delegates 
that our exports to these countries and the other Republics 
could b-e increased to a great extent by the negotiations of 
proper reciprocity treaties. 

That lack of means for reaching their markets was the 
chief obstacle in the way of increased exports. The carry- 
'ng trade has been controlled by European merchants who 
have forbidden an exchange of commodities. Under liberal 
encouragement from the government and the establishment 
of regular steamship lines, France increased her exports to 
South America from $8,292,000 in 1880 to $22,996,000 in 
1888. By the same means Germany increased her exports 



35o AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

to South America from ;^2, 365,000 in 1880 to ;^I3, 310,000 
in 1888. 

That the Conference beheves that while great profit would 
come to all countries under reciprocity treaties, the United 
States would be far the greatest gainer, and that especially 
since 87 per cent, of our imports from those countries came 
in duty free, while nearly all our exports to them were 
heavily dutiable at their ports, in some cases to the extent 
of prohibition. 

That increased exports would draw alike from our farms, 
factories and forests, such being the character of the articles 
required by those countries. A steamer load from New 
York to Rio Janeiro, which was traced to its origin, as to 
the articles which comprised it, showed that thirty-six of 
our States and Territories had contributed to the cargo. 

That, excepting raw cotton, our four largest exports are 
breadstuffs, provisions, petroleum and lumber. In 1889 
our export of these articles was : — Breadstuffs, ;^ 123, 876,- 
423, of which only ^5,123,528 went to Latin America; Pro- 
visions, ^104.122,328, of which only 1^2,507,375 went 
thither; Petroleum, ;^44, 830,424, of which ^2,948,149 went 
thither; Lumber, ^26,907,000, of which ^5,039,886 went 
thither. Since the United States is almost the only source 
of supply for these articles, which rank as necessaries of 
life, and there are 50,000,000 of population in Latin 
America, the advantages of a direct and larger trade are 
apparent. 

That fifteen of the seventeen Republics in the Conference 
indicated their desire to enter upon reciprocal commercial 
relations with the United States; the remaining two ex- 
pressed equal willingness, could they be assured that their 
advances would be favorably considered. 

That to " escape the delay and uncertainty of treaties it 



American reciprocity. 351 

has been suggested that a practicable and prompt mode of 
testing the question was to submit an amendment to the 
pending tariff bill, authorizing the President to declare the 
ports of the United States free to all the products of any 
nation of the American hemisphere upon which no export 
duties are imposed, whenever and so long as such nation 
shall admit to its ports free of all national, provincial (state), 
municipal, and other taxes, our flour, corn-meal, and other 
breadstuffs, preserved meats, fish, vegetables and fruits, cot • 
ton-seed oil, rice and other provisions, including all articles 
of food, lumber, furniture and other articles of wood, agri- 
cultural implements and machinery, mining and mechanical 
machincr}', structural steel and iron, steel rails, locomotives, 
railway cars and supplies, street cars, and refined petroleum. 
These particular articles are mentioned because they have 
been most frequently referred to as those with which a val- 
uable exchange could be readily effected. The list could 
no doubt be profitably enlarged by a careful investigation 
of the needs and advantages of both the home and foreign 
markets. 

" The opinion was general among the foreign delegates 
that the legislation herein referred to would lead to the 
opening of new and profitable markets for the products of 
which we have so large a surplus, and thus invigorate every 
branch of agricultural and mechanical industry. Of course 
the exchanges involved in these propositions would be ren- 
dered impossible if Congress in its wisdom should repeal 
the duty on sugar by direct legislation, instead of allowing 
the same object to be attained by the reciprocal arrangement 
suggested." 

RECIPROCITY AND THE ACT OF 189O. 

We have now reached a period in the history of reci- 
procity when it was to be given practical application, out- 



352 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

side of the usual form of prolix and uncertain treaty, and 
in the form of a specific enactment or declaration. The 
proposition, just above noted, to incorporate it as a policy 
in our Tariff laws, was at first received with misgivings by 
the most ardent friends of protection. They doubted the 
propriety of introducing it into strictly tariff legislation, 
lest it might endanger the success of such legislation, or at 
least subtract from the strength and efficacy of some of 
the protective doctrines. 

But the matter was persistently urged upon the attention 
of those who had the Tariff Act of 1890 in charge. The 
more it was studied the more it grew in favor. The litera- 
ture bearing upon it, the facts it embraced, the theories and 
promises involved, proved startling and convincing. The 
administration saw that it could well afford to accept it as a 
measure and abide by its consequences. Political lines be- 
gan to harden respecting it, and the one party shrank not 
from its advocac}- nor the other from attack upon it. Thus 
it ripened, and the Tariff Act of 1890 became its opportu- 
nity, not only as to time, but as to the fact that the contem- 
plated enlargement of the free list, by the removal of millions 
of duties from sugars and other articles, would provide the 
concessions to other nations necessary for a fair and perhaps 
successful trial of it, in the proposed way. 

At last it found its place in the pending Tariff Act — the 
Tariff Act of 1890 — as Section 3 of the Free List. It 
reads : — 

" That with a view to secure reciprocal trade with coun- 
tries producing the following articles, and for this purpose, 
on and after the first day of January, 1892, whenever and so 
often as the President shall be satisfied that the government 
of any country producing and exporting sugars, molasses, 
coffee, tea, and hides raw and uncured, or any of such 



AMERICAN •RECIPROCITY. 353 

articles, imposes duties or other exactions upon the agri- 
culturttl or other products of the United States, which in 
view of the free introduction of such sugar, molasses, coffee, 
tea and hidea nito the United States he may deem to be re- 
ciprocally unequal and unreasonable, he shall have the 
power, and it shall be his duty to suspend, by proclamation 
to that effect, the provisions of this Act relating to the free 
introduction of such sugar, molasses, coffee, tea and hides, 
the production of such country, for such time as he shall 
deem just, and in such case and during such suspension 
duties shall be levied, collected and paid upon sugar, 
molasses, coffee, tea and hides, the product of or exported 
from such designated country, as follows : — " 

Here follow the rates in detail, the rate on sugar being 
from 7-iotli of a cent per pound to 2 cents per pound ac- 
cording to test ; on molasses 4 cents a gallon ; on coffee 3 
cents per pound ; on tea lO cents per pound ; and on hides 
lyi cents per pound. 

APPLIED RECIPROCITY. 

By the middle of March, 1892 (March 15), all the coun- 
tries of the American Continent south of the United States 
had either assented to the doctrine of reciprocal trade as in- 
corporated in the McKinley Act of 1890, or had entered 
into negotiations which looked to a speedy acceptance of 
the doctrine, with the exceptions of Venezuela, Hayti and 
Colombia. The refusal of these three to join in reciprocity 
as offered by the Act of 1890 led to an event which marked 
the second stage of the reciprocity policy. Their refusal 
being complete, for the time being at least. President Harri- 
son, under the powers conferred upon him by the Act, issued 
his proclamation to them, imposing on their sugars, mo- 
lasses, coffees, teas and raw hides, exported to the United 



3.54 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

States and entered at its ports, the duties provided for in th^ 
Act, which duties were, as to sugars and molasses, less thail 
under the Act of 1883, or the Mills Bill, and amounted to 
three cents a pound on coffee, ten cents a pound on tea, and 
one and one half cents per pound on hides. 

These duties, therefore, as to coffee, tea and hides, be- 
came really discriminative, for these articles were, and had 
been for a long time, upon the free list of the United States. 
They were ratably discriminative as to sugar and molasses, 
which articles had just gone upon our free list; but then, 
these three countries did not export sugar to the United 
States. 

In order to meet this stage of the reciprocity policy, those 
who opposed it with the objection that the Act of 1890 was 
unconstitutional, as conferring upon the Executive powers 
which belonged wholly to the Legislative branch of the 
government, carried a test case into the United States 
Supreme Court. That tribunal decided that the power con- 
ferred upon the President by the Act was not unconstitu- 
tional, that the Congress had legislated as clearly respecting 
the duties to be imposed upon the products of dissenting 
countries as it had in the regular schedules of the Act, and 
that the only exceptional feature of the legislation, which 
was that the President should be left to ascertain the date 
when a country refused to accept reciprocity, was not fatal 
to the Act, since it was a fact only which had to be ascer- 
tained, and a fact which would have to be ascertained out 
af the State Department in any event. 

At this stage, too, reciprocity met renewed and active 
opposition in the form of arguments as to its cost to the 
people of this country. The exports to the United States 
of the three dissenting countries were, in 1890, as follows :— 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 355 

Coffee. Hides. 

Venezuela ^^9,662,207 ^812,347 

Colombia 1,849,441 630,099 

Hayti 1,270,247 30,391 



^12,781,895 $1,472,837 

Taking the above item of coffee, which represented an ex- 
port of about 76,000,000 pounds, these opponents argued 
that tliis quantity of coffee, which was about fifteen per 
cent, of our entire annual supply — 500,000,000 pounds — 
would, at three cents a pound, subject our people to a tax 
of ^2,280,000 per annum. 

To this the friends of reciprocity answered : — that if this 
duty of three cents a pound were levied upon these coffees 
it would prove not only discriminating but prohibitory, for 
these countries could not afford to compete with other coffee- 
growing countries in a market which was free to them. 
Therefore, in as much as no coffee could come to us from 
these dissenting countries, our people would have no duties 
to pay. But, said the opposition, in that event our annual 
supply of coffee will be reduced, and we will have to pay 
.nv)re for what does come. To this the answer was, that 
tlure is no market for those coffees except in the United 
States, and that as they would have to come here ulti- 
mately, the only condition upon which they could be 
marketed was by the payment of the duty by the pro- 
ducers ; that is to say, they would have to throw off the 
duty in order to enter the market on the same footing as 
other countries. And the further answer was given, that 
even if these coffees never reached our market, the vacuum 
occasion! d thereby would be only temporary, and would be 
speedily filled by Mexico Central America and Brazil. As 
an assu.ance of tliis, it was pointed out that all the coffee- 



3S6 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

growing countries, notably Brazil, that had accepted reci- 
procity, were already experiencing improvement in their 
industrial interests, and feeling the impetus of enlarged 
trade with the United States. 

ACCEPTANCE OF RECIPROCITY. 

This stage of the reciprocity policy had been anticipated 
by all the important sugar-producing countries, or a suffi- 
cient number of them to place ninety-five per cent, of our 
raw sugar supply under the regulation of reciprocity con- 
ventions. The Spanish West Indies, whence forty-two per 
cent, of our supply is derived, Germany, the British West 
Indies, Hawaii, the Philippines, San Domingo, Brazil, 
Austria-Hungary, France and colonies. Central America, 
Mexico, had either accepted reciprocity or called conven- 
tions for that purpose. Many of these countries had main- 
tained high rates of duty against exports from the United 
States, some had imposed prohibitive rates, a few had for- 
bidden altogether the entry of our products, American pork 
for instance, into their ports. 

The concessions granted by these countries in their reci^ 
procity conventions have resulted in opening their ports to 
a large class of the products of the United States, either by 
removing duties on them entirely, or by reducing said duties 
to a minimum. Germany, by her reciprocity agreement, 
admitted free, or at reduced rates of duty, American meats, 
fruits, cereals, furniture and farming utensils. France did 
llic same thing, and so of the various countries whose com- 
mercial interests were touched by the enlargement of the 
free list of imports into the United States under the Act of 
1890, and the introduction of the reciprocity policy as a 
provision of said Act. 

Ol course it would require Liuic Lo dciuonstrate by 



AMERICAN UIX'II'KOCITY. 357 

'.ictiial figures the effeets of reciprocity on the commerce 
111" the nations interested. Yet very soon figures were ob- 
tiiinuble showing an increase of expurts to and imports 
from such countries. Brazil accepted the policy of reci- 
l)rocity, April 1, 1891. In nine months her im})orts to the 
United States showed a total of $79,183,238, as against a 
tcital uf ^5552,861, 398 for the corresponding nine months of 
1890. The exports from this country shuwed §11,555,447 
as against 1^10,081,871, in the months above mentioned. 

The reciprocity treaty with Spain which took effect 
September 1, 1891, was followed in four months by an 
importation of $14,950,868, as against 111,782,023, for 
the corresponding four months of 1890. In the same 
four months the exports were 17,063,222, as against 
$4,816,029, in the corresponding months of 1890. 

These indications continued to be supported by statis- 
tics, and in cumulative form, till the })rinciple of reciproc- 
ity was swept out of our economic system by the passage 
of the Wilson Tariff Bill of 1894. That act rendered 
nugator}' all the reciprocity treaties with other nations, 
and instead of what was known as reciprocal relations, 
came a system of retaliations, especially on the part of 
Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Holland, Denmark 
and Spain which worked great injury to the agricultural 
interests of this country. They excluded our flour, meats, 
live animals and agricultural implements to an extent that 
amounted almost to prohibition, so that what bade fair 
under reciprocity, to become an even balance of trade was 
turned into the old channels against us. Thus in 1895, 
the Republics to the south of us sold us products, admit- 
ted practically free of duty, to the extent of 1246,000,000 
while in the same year we only exported to them goods to 
the value of iil43,000,000, every ounce of which was 



358 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

taxed from five to one luindied per cent, on its value iii 
their custom houses. Tiie balance of trade against us, 
1 103,000,000, was paid for in gold. 

The gain from the incorporation of reciprocity into our 
economy under the tariff act of 1890 was sufficiently 
inaiiifest to furnish the basis of intelligent argument, 
when it was swept away by the Wilson Tariff Act of 1894 
It is sad to contemplate that a doctrine which promised 
so much should have beei? so summarily expelled. And 
the regret over its expulsion is all the dee])er from the 
fact that those who ejected it charged its advocates with 
taking a step toward fiee trade, the very doctrine they 
themselves sought to apply as fully as they could in the 
Wilson Tariff Bill of 1894. 

Aside from partyism and all narrow theory the doctrine 
of reciprocity is one which deserves the broadest study 
and, as this country is situated, the fairest of trials. It 
is a policy really fur removed from mere parties and poli- 
tics, and is a matter of truly national and international 
import, all of whose features are economic and commer- 
cial. 

It was thought that its incorporation into our commer- 
cial polity was a declaration on the part of the United 
States that it had reached a place among commercial na- 
tions where it was no longer a law into itself, but that in 
order to compete with the older nations in the markets of 
I he world, it would have to strive as they were doing for 
legitimate supremacy. Happily for our civilization, the in- 
corporation of reciprocity into our statutes proposed only 
a peaceful solution of social and economic problems and 
an amicable assertion of our industrial supremacy and 
iude[)endence. 



american kecipiiocity. 359 

What Europe Saw and Did. 
One must contrast this American purpose with that of 
the nations of Europe, wlio would not willingly lose their 
iiiule with the Republics to the south of us, but would 
luaintnin it with every art known to their diplomacy, all 
the ingenuity and force born of superiority, all the 
finesse bred by ages of shrewdness and self assertion. 
England, especially seems to have been deeply impressed 
with the magnitude of the new commercial departure on 
the part of the United States, and with iier usual astute- 
ness earliest foresaw its effects on her markets in Central 
and South America Countries. Her press became bitter 
in its denunciations of the new policy, and when the 
difficulty with Chile arose, the same press made it all too 
plain that there was concerted effort on the part of Eng- 
lish diplomats to crush out intercourse, commercial and 
social, with our continental neighbor. The United States 
could not have gone to war with Chile, except by fightii.g 
England either openl}-, or under cover of deeply disguised 
diplomacy. The English idea of reciprocity being that it 
involves the principle of lex talionis, or law of revenge, 
" an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth," it would 
have been easy for her to find arguments or excuses for 
frustrating all our efforts toward more intimate trade rela- 
tions with all South American Countries. Our imbroglio 
with Chile made the fact almost patent that foreign na- 
tions stood ready to challenge our right to entrench on 
their commercial domains by means of reciprocity, and 
their anxiety- and attitude showed that they were more 
fully aware of the effects of reciprocity on their trade in 
these countries than even our wisest statesmen and shrewd- 
est merchants had been. This attitude of foreign nations 



360 AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 

was the greatest compliment that could have been paid to 
reciprocity as an economic principle and commercial force. 
England, France, Germany and Italy had fur generations 
been engaged in a neck and neck race for the markets of 
^Mexico, Central America and South America. They had 
used every art of diplomacy and all the genius of com- 
merce to head off rivalry and establish supremacy. They 
manufactured and priced and labelled with specific intent 
to occupy these markets. They established lines of 
steamers, whose guage and velocity were best adapted for 
intercourse. They subsidized ocean transit to secure dis- 
patch. They loaned credit on most dangerous securities. 
They sent drummers, agents and other interested parties 
to prospect, represent and persuade. They formed huge 
syndicates which took possession of immense inland inter- 
ests, like the Peruvian nitre beds, and worked them with 
untold profit. The result was that they came to own and 
control the markets of South America. The productions 
of these countries, destined for the United States, came 
to us in the ships of Europe, and by way of European 
ports, where they paid the rich bounty of ocean freight 
and the inevitable commissions for handling, that the 
European merchant has ever been privileged to suck from 
the world's goods in transit. Two or three steamers a 
montii sufficed to carry to South American countries all 
the}" cared to take from us in the shape of our products. 
The bulk of what they sold to us — many times over and 
over again in value what we sold to them — was paid for 
in gold, through European houses, with another commission 
for negotiation. 

Europe saw that every bill of goods we could place to 
our credit in a South American port would be deducted 
from her account. Hence her nervousness, her hostility 




, IIhn. James Z. George. 

Born in Monroe Co., Ga., October 20, 18*26; moved to Mississippi 
when young; participated in Mexican war; studied law and admitted 
to practice in Carroll co. ; elected Reporter of Appellate Court, 1854 
and 1860; reported ten volumes of reports and published a digest of 
decisions; member of Secession Convention, 1861; Brigadier-General 
in Confederate army; Chairman of Democratic State Executive Com- 
mittee, 1875-76; appointed a Judge of State Supreme Court, 1879 ; 
elected Chief- Justice; elected to United States Senate, 1881; re-elected 
1886 and 1892 ; member ef the Mississippi Constitutional Convention, 
1890; member of Committees on Agriculture, Education and Labor, 
Judiciary, Transportation, etc. 




Hon. Joseph B. Foraker. 

Born near Rainsborough, Ohio, July 5, 1846 ; enlisted from farm in 
89th Ohio Regiment; served in army of Cumberland till close of war; 
Sergeant in 1862; First Lieutenant in 1864; Captain in 1865; Aide to 
General Slocum ; after war entered Wesleyan University ; graduated at 
Cornell, 1869; studied law and admitted to bar; Judge of Cincinnati 
Superior Court, 1879-82 ; nominated as Republican candidate for GoV' 
ernor in 1883, and defeated; re-nominated in 1885 and elected; re- 
nominated, but defeated by Governor Campbell in 1889; noted for fiery 
eloquence and dovotion to cause of soldiers; elected to U. S. Senate, 
1896, to succeed Hon. Calvin S. Brice, whose term expires March 3, 
1897. 



AiMERICAN RECIPROCITY., 363 

to Aiueiicaii reciprocity. She could not, she would not, 
sit idly by and witness this threatened inroad into lier 
trade, this distuibance of the commercial nests she had 
built and snugly feathered in Central and South America. 
In affaiis of this kind, and amid such conditions, affairs 
and conditions which concern only national pocketbooks 
and national prestige, there is absolutely no sentiment, 
nothing to be hoped for from real or imaginary national 
condescension or sympathy. We must have expected just 
what came, unless all history belied itself, to wit, the 
criticism, the antagonism, the counter efforts of the 
nations whose interests were touched and whose trade 
was threatened. We must have expected even more, and 
that was preparation on our part to hold what we could 
gain, on the principle that our right to obtain was equal 
with the right of any other nation, and in a geographic 
sense more natural than with any nation across the sea. 
What we could not have anticipated was that this coun- 
try itself should be the first to strike the blow looked for 
only from other countries, and that at a time when the 
experiment of reciprocity gave every guarantee of repeat- 
ing commercially the history which led to the JNIonroe 
Doctrine in diplomacy and politics. 

When the Monroe Doctrine was announced, and on 
every occasion that has required its re-assertion, it was 
notice to Europe that the American republics constituted 
a political system so continental, unique and independent, 
that monarchical interference with it would not be toler- 
ated. The introduction of reciprocity into American 
commerce in 1890, was regarded as a departure of equal 
moment with that political departure of Monroe in 1823. 
It was looked upon as the beginning of a continental era 
looking to commercial freedom and independence, and as 
21 



864 AMEUICAN RECIPKOCITF. 

likely to result in the commercial emancipation and 
solidarity of American countries, as that of Monroe did 
politically. 

Repeal of Reciprocity. 

The life of the reciprocity experiment was unhappily 
short. What was most unfortunate about it was that it 
was forced to bow to the behests of party. As has been 
seen, it was in no sense a party problem, but one of plain 
business. Its workings were of the purely economic 
order. To sustain it helped no party. To sacrifice it 
helped no party. No time had been given to ascertain its 
real worth, nor to assert as a fact that it had proven harni- 
ful. What time was given it, pointed to an outcome 
highly beneficial to the country, and which should have 
been the delight of all parties. 

The passage of the Wilson Tariff Bill of 1894 left reci- 
procity without the sanction of law, left it to fall after an 
experimental life of four years. There had grown up 
about it, and by means of it, treaties with nearly every 
country to the south of us, and with many in Europe, 
establishing commerce on a reciprocal basis. These trea- 
ties were in operation when the Reciprocity Act was re- 
peated by the Wilson Tariff Bill. They fell to the ground 
with that repeal, much to the regret of all the treaty 
countries, and to the anger and contempt of not a few of 
them. The milling interests, live stock industries, and 
manufactures of furniture and farming implements, in this 
country felt the loss of reciprocity to a lamentable extent. 
The largely increased export trade, especially to Cuba, 
Brazil and other important countries, which had come 
about under reciprocity, fell off and the old trade balance 
against us was reestablished. How heavy and ruinous 



AMERICAN RECIPROCITY. 365 

this balance was in 1895, has already been seen in this 
article. 

As lias already been intimated, the countries of Europe 
with whom reciprocit}' treaties had been made, entered their 
protests in our State Department against their repeal. These 
piotests passed unheeded. They, therefore, began a system 
of retaliation by excluding our products from their ports, 
much to our commercial detriment, and especially to the 
injury ot our agricultural interests. This humiliatingand 
injurious warfare they could not carry on under the reciproc- 
ity treties which pledged mutual consideration of interna- 
tional products entering into commerce. 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE, AND VENE- 
ZUELA DISPUTE. 



History of the Dispute. 

The dispute between Great Britain and Venezuela re- 
specting the western boundary of British Guiana began 
AAdth the cession of the Colony of British Guiana to Great 
Britain by Holland, under the Netherland treaty of 1814. 
Venezuela, in all her constitutions, declared her territorial 
hmits to be that of the Captaincy-General of Venezuela, 
in 1810, but for prudential reasons was content with the 
general line of the Essequibo river as boundary between 
herself and British Guiana. 

Great Britain never laid claim to a definite western 
boundary for her possessions till 18-40, when she com- 
missioned Sir Robert Schomburgk to lay down boundaries, 
which he did by means of landmarks and maps. Vene- 
zuela protested so vehemently against the Schomburgk 
boundary, that Great Britain was forced to explain that ' 
she regarded the line as only tentative, and as part of her 
plan to arrive at boundary conclusions between herself 
and Brazil as well as Venezuela. The monuments of the 
line were removed by the express orders of Lord Aber- 
deen, who in 1844, proposed another line, beginning at 
the river Moroco. 

After 1840, Great Britain drew several lines, all more 
or less imaginary, but each one infringing more and more 
on Venezuela territory, and correspondingly enlarging 
(366) 



THE MONIIOK DOCTRINE, oG7 

her own. None of these lines were predicated on legal 
right, and to all the assent of Venezuela was asked and 
denied. Each new claim to extended boundary brought 
up the question of arbitration in futile forui, and each at- 
tracted the attention of the United States, sometimes as 
an invited arbiter, always as a party jealous of monar- 
chical encroachment on western soil. The Granville line 
of 1881 started twenty-nine miles west of the Moroco 
river. The Rosebery line of 1886 increased the area of 
^jiitish Guiana from seventy six thousand to one hundred 
thousand square miles. The Salisbury line of 1890, and 
the second Rosebery line of 1893, showed similar ag- 
gressiveness on the part of Great Britain. These later 
claims were followed by attempts at occupation and the 
exercise of jurisdiction, despite a soleuin agreement 
made between the two countries, in 1850, that neither 
country should attempt ])ermanent occupation pending 
the settlement of the dispute. 

Throughout the entire dispute, Venezuela, as her only 
hope against a powerful adversary, repeatedly sought an 
understanding through arbitration. Her efforts were 
liaflled, for various reasons, till in 1886 a treaty was drafted 
between her and Great Britain, which provided for a 
settlement of all boundary disputes by arbitration. This 
treaty was not ratified owing to the fall of the Gladstone 
ministr}'. Lord Salisbury, Gladstone's successor, refused 
to accede to the arbitration clause. To every subsequent 
appeal for arbitration, the answer of Great Britain was 
that arbitration could be had but only respecting such 
disputed territory- as lay west of a line designated by her. 
self. 

Of course such an arbitrary condition was inadmissible 
by Venezuela, and owing to new appropriations of 



368 THE MONTJOE POCTRINE. 

territory by Great Britain, Venezuela, in 1887, suspended 
diplomatic relations, and protested before the British Gov- 
ernment and the world " against the acts of spoliation 
committed to her detriment by the government of Great 
Britain, which she at no time and on no account will 
recognize as capable of altering in the least the rights 
wliich she has inherited from Spain, and respecting which 
she will ever be willing to submit to the decision of a third 
power." 

Diplomatic relations were not afterward renewed be- 
tween the two countries, but owing to further aggressions 
on the part of Great Britain, Venezuela was forced to re- 
sume negotiations respecting the boundary question. But 
her efforts of 1890 and 1893 failed, for the reason that 
Great Britain again refused to arbitrate, except as to ter- 
ritory west of an arbitrary line drawn by herself. 

In 1893, further negotiations were broken off by 
another protest, and appeal of Venezuela to the world, in 
which it was stated that there was seemingly nothing left 
for her to do but to accept the painful and peremptory 
duty of providing for her own legitimate defence against 
the encroachments of Great Britain. 

To put the entire British-Venezuela question into a few 
words, it then appears : 

(1) The dispute between Great Britian and Venezuela 
is as to territory of indefinite but confessedly large ex- 
tent. 

(2) On account of the great strength of Great Britain, 
Venezuela can only hope to establish her claim through a 
direct agreement with her adversary, or by means of ar- 
bitration. 

(3) The controversy has extended over half a century, 
with constantly varying claims on the part of Great 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE, 369 

Britain, and persistent efforts on the part of Venezuela to 
establish a permanent boundary by agreement. 

(4) The futility of seeking direct agreement induced 
Venezuela to ask and strive for arbitration for at least a 
quarter of a century. 

(5) Great Britian has always and continuously refused 
to arbitrate except on condition that Venezuela would re- 
nounce a large part of her claim, and concede in advance 
a large share of the territory in controversy. 

' The United States and The Dispute. 

There has never been a time when the United States, 
or for that matter, any American re]3ublic, could be in- 
different to the controversy, in view of their traditional 
policv as to monarchism on the westeri^. continent. But 
the United States on account of her great strength and 
prestige, and because she had an earlier and more clearly 
defined policy than the other Republics, was looked to by 
Venezuela as the Republic most likely to see that she was 
not finally wronged by Great Britain, in case of abitration 
or warlike clash. In general Venezuela kept the United 
States informed of her efforts to end the controversy, and 
very often sought to sup})lement her efforts by the good 
offices of this country. Thus in 1876, when Venezuela 
sought to open negotiations with Great Britain, the fact, 
and even the note to Great Britain were communicated 
to this government. 

In 1881, when the fact that Great Britain was making 
a naval demonstration off the mouth of the Orinoco was 
communicated to this government by the Venezuela min- 
ister. Secretary of State, Evarts, replied that " in view 
of the deep interest which the government of the United 
States takes in all transactions tending to attempted en- 



370 THE MONHOE DOCTRINE. 

croaehments of foreign powers upon the territory of any 
of tlie Republics of tliis continent, this government could 
not look with indifference to the forcible acquisition of 
such territory by England if the mission of the vessels now 
at the mouth of the Orinoco should be found to be for 
that end." 

In November, 1882, Venezuela sought the advice and 
support of the United States respecting another effort at 
I arbitration with Great Britain. In response, Secretary 
of State, Frelinghuysen, replied in substance that the 
United States stood willing, at the desire of Venezuela, to 
propose arbitration to Great Britain as a means of settling 
the boundary disputes, and that the best tender of the 
good offices of this country to Venezuela would be in the 
direction of arbitration. Furtlier, that the United States, 
while not seeking to become, would not refuse to be, an 
arbiter between the two countries. 

In 1884 the Venezuela minister to England, appointed 
with a view of negotiating a treaty respecting the 
boundary dispute, came to Washington first, and after 
many interviews with our Secretary of State, went to 
England with commendations to the good offices of Mr. 
Lowell, the American Minister in London, and with 
authority to represent to the British Government that 
this country viewed with concern whatever might affect 
the interests of a sister republic of the American continent 
and its position in the family of nations. When, in 1886, 
it became apparent that this Venezuela ISIinister was 
about to fail in his negotiations, and tliat diplomatic rela- 
tions were again about to be broken off, our Secretary of 
State, Mr. Bayard, with a view to preventing such rupture 
between Venezuela and Great Britain, authorized our Min- 
ister to Great Britain to tender the good offices of the 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 371 

United States to promote an amicable settlement of the 
boundary differences, and even to extend an offer to the 
two countries to act as arbiter if agreeable to both. 
This tender was accompanied by the following clear state- 
ment of the relation of the United States to the contro- 
versy : 

"Her JNIajesty's Governijient will readily nnderstand 
that this attitude of friendly neutrality and entire impar- 
tiality touching the merits of the controversy, consisting 
wholly in a difference of facts between our friends and 
neighbors, is entirely consistent and compatible with 
the sense of responsibility that rests upon the United States 
in relation to the South American Republics. The doc- 
trines we announced two generations ago, at the instance 
and with the moral support and approval of the British 
Government, have lost none of their force or importance 
in the progress of time, and the Governments of Great 
Britain and the United States are equally interested in 
conserving a status, the M'isdoni of which has been demon- 
strated by the experience of moi'e than half a century." 

Great Britain declined this offer. Again in 1888, British 
Guiana widened her boundary pretensions by proposing to 
buihl a railroad on soil claimed by Venezuela. This inten- 
sification of the dispute attracted the notice of the United 
States, and once more this country offered to assist in end- 
ing the controversy, at the same time calling the attention 
of Great Britain to the fact that her repeated change of 
boundaries, her fiequent eidargements of them, her refusals 
to arbitrate with Venezuela, were sources of grave concern 
to the Government of the United States. 

In 1889, word was received that Barima, at the mouth 
of the Orinoco, had been declared a British port. Mr. 
Blaine, then Secretary of State, immediately instructed 



872 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

Mr. Lincoln, our Minister to England, to offer to Great 
Britain the good offices of the United States with a view 
to opening diplomatic relations between Great Britain and 
Venezuela, and as a preliminary step toward ending their 
controversy by arbitration. A conference between the 
three powers was proposed, to meet in London, in which 
the attitude of the United States should be that of impar- 
tial friend to the other two. Of this proposal nothing came, 
but in 1890 and again in 1893, Great Britain refused to 
hearken to the proposals of Venezuela to reopen diplomatic 
relations, because a condition of such resumption, steadily 
adhered to by Venezuela, was the reference of the bound- 
ary dispute to arbitration. 

After 1893, Venezuela repeatedly brought the contro- 
versy to the notice of the United States, and insisted upon 
its importance to this country and to herself. Her notices 
came to this country in the form of appeals for serv- 
ice and support. They showed an acute stage of the 
controversy with Great Britain, which might burst out in 
war between her and Venezuela at any moment, and with 
the result that the weaker government must be driven to the 
wall. These appeals were not received witli indifference 
by this country, indeed they could not be because of the 
traditional policy of the United States toward the Western 
Republics, and in every instance an Ambassador to Great 
Britain was instructed to exert his influence toward the 
le newel of di[)loniatic relations between the two estranged 
countries, and to urge arbitration as a means of settling all 
boundary differences. Thus much the United States felt 
free at all times to urge, in its attitude of neutrality and 
friendship toward both countries. 

In the insructions of our Secretary of State to Mr. 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 373 

Bayard at London, July 13, 1804, tlie following language 
occurs : 

" The President (Mr. Cleveland) is inspired by a desire 
for a peaceable and honorable settlement of the existing 
difficulties between an American State and a powerful 
transatlantic nation, and would be glad to see the recstab- 
lishment of such diplomatic relations between them as 
would promote that end. 

"I can discern but two equitable solutions of the pres- 
ent controversy. One is the arbitral determination of the 
rights of the dispntants as the respective successors of the 
historical rights of Holland and Spain over the region in 
question. Tlie other is to create a new boundary line in 
accordance with the dictates of mutual expediency and 
consideration. The two governments having so far been 
unable to agree on a conventional line, the consistent and 
conspicuous advocacy b}^ the United States and England 
of the principle of arbitration, and their recourse thereto 
in settlement of important questions arising between them, 
makes sueii mode of adjustment especially appropriate in 
the present instance, and this Government will gladly do 
wliat it can to further a determination in that sense." 

In the above the point is made conspicuous that in her 
relations with the United States, Great Britain was as 
much committed to the principle of arbitration as the for- 
mer country, and hence the United States could not be 
urging a novel or unacceptable method of settlement as to 
tiie Venezuelan boundaries. The implication would be 
fair that Great Britain's refusal to arbitrate in a matter 
which came so nearly home to the United States, as one of 
the western Republics, had behind it a desire to bully a 
weak government like Venezuela into submission, or to 



374 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

keep tlie controversy open till, at some opportune time, a 
warlike blow forced a settlement. 

In his annual message of December 3, 1894, President 
Cleveland felt warranted in calling the attention of Con- 
gress and the country to the condition of the Venezuelan dis- 
pute. His language was, " The boundary of British Guiana 
still remains in dispute between Great Britain andVenezu- 
ela. Believing that its early settlement on some just basis, 
alike honorable to both parties, is in the line of our estab- 
lished policy to remove from this hemisphere all causes of 
difference with powers beyond the sea, I shall renew the 
efforts heretofore made to bring about a restoration of dip- 
lomatic relations between the disputants, and to induce a 
reference to arbitration, a resort which Great Britain so 
conspicuously favors in principle and respects in piactice, 
and which is earnestly sought by her weaker adversary." 

On February 25, 1895, Congress took action on the 
above suggestion of the President, and gave it the 
moral support of a joint resolution to the effect that Great 
Britain and Venezuela were recommended to refer their 
dispute to friendly arbitrament. 

It will thus be seen that this acute stage of the contro- 
versy between Great Britain and Venezuela was fast be- 
coming a source of irritation to the United States, which 
saw her offer of good offices repeatedly ignored, her policy 
of arbitration repudiated by a country wliich had uniforndy 
accepted it, and the question of monarchical encroach- 
ment on the rights of a sister Republic unceremoniously 
slioved further and further into the background. A full, 
clear statement of the position of the United States at this 
time would be that given in the language of Mr. Olney, 
Secretary of State : 

" By the frequent interposition of its good offices at the 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 375 

instance of Venezuela, by constant urging and promoting 
the restoration of diplomatic relations bet^^■een the two 
contending countries, by pressing for arbitration of the dis- 
puted boundar}^ by offering to act as arbitrator, by ex- 
pi'essing its grave concern whenever new alleged instances 
of British aggression upon Venezuelan territoiy have been 
brought to its notice, the Government of the United States 
has made it clear to Great Britain and the world that the 
controversy' is one in which both its honor and interests 
are involved, and the continuance of which it cannot re- 
gard with indifference." 

A Speck Of War. 

On July 20, 1895, Secretary of State, Olney, at the 
instance of President Cleveland, presented to Lord Salis- 
bury, the English premier, a full review of the Venezue- 
lan dispute from the standpoint of the United States, and 
especially with reference to the attitude of this country 
toward a question involving the Monroe Doctrine, and 
likewise the principle of arbitration. The object was to 
plac» the United States upon such a plane as that its own 
people and all the world might see how it stood in rela- 
tion to the controversy, and might have respect for its 
efforts at furtlier solution of a now vexatious problem. 
The time had come for a full and fair expression of a truly 
American view, and a frank showing of the status of the 
United States respecting its future interests and course 
of action. 

The situation was such as to compel the United States 
to ascertain and decide to what extent, if any, it should 
intervene in a controversy primarily between Great Brit- 
ain and Venezuela, and how far it should go toward see- 
ing that the integrity of Venezuelan territory was not 



376 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

impaired by the pretensions of its powerful antagonist. 
If the United States had no right to intervene, it were . 
best to know it, for then it had done all it could do to 
bring about a proper understanding between the two dis- 
puting countries. If, on the contrary, it had a right to 
intervene, the quicker it were known the better, for then 
it became proper and necessary to promptly exercise the 
right and discharge the duty so as not to fail of the end 
in view. The question would be easy of solution, so far 
as it involved a mere matter of principle or related to a 
settled national policy. It would prove more difficult, 
when its momentous practical consequences came to be 
weighed. International law makes it clear that one na- 
tion may interpose in a controversy between two others 
whenever what said nations propose or do becomes a 
menace to the integrity, peace or welfare of said first na- 
tion. Washington in his farewell address had laid down the 
doctrine that America should exclude herself from Euro- 
pean politics, but he was silent as to the part Europe might 
play in American politics. Inside of twenty years the 
necessity arose for a full consideration of the momentous 
problem of how far American exclusion from European 
politics implied European exclusion from American poll-, 
tics. Discussion of this problem led to the announce- 
ment of that American policy which became known as 
the Monroe Doctrine, and whose history and purport are 
given in after pages. 

Secretary Olney, in his paper, entered into a full dis- 
cussion of the jVlonroe Doctrine, and concluded that un- 
der all the rules that had hitherto regulated its affirma- 
tion and application in America, the Venezuelan con- 
troversy was clearly within its scope, at least to the ex- 
tent of warranting full inquiry into the merits of said 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 377 

controversy and ascertaining where the right lay. His 
urgency on Great Britain to submit the matter to arbitra- 
tion was very powerful, and almost amounted to an 
arraignment of the British position, for says he, " Slie 
(Great Britain) says to Venezuela in substance, ' You can 
get none of the debatable land by force, because you arci 
not strong enough; you can get none by treaty, because 
I will not agree, and you can take yuur chance of getting 
a portion by arbitration only if you first agree to abandon 
to me sucli uther portion as I may designate.' It is not 
perceived bow such an attitude can be defended, nor how 
it is reconcilable with that love of justice and fair play so 
eminently characteristic of the English race. It in effect 
deprives Venezuela of her free agency and puts her under 
virtual duress. Territory acquired by reason of it will be 
as much wrested from her by the strong hand as if oc- 
cupied by British troops or covered by British fleets. It 
seems, therefore, quite impossible that this position of 
Great Britain should be assented to by the United States, 
or that if such position be adhered to with tlie result of 
enlarging the bounds of British Guiana, it should not be 
regarded as amounting in substance to an invasion and 
conquest of Venezuelan territory. ! 

"In these circumstances the duty of the President ap-' 
pears to him unmistakable and im[)erative. Great P>rit- 
ain's assertion of title to the disputed territory, combined 
with her refusal to have that title investigated, being a 
substantial appropriation of the territory to her own use, 
not to protest and give warning that the transaction will 
be regarded as injurious to the interests of the people of 
the United States, as well as oppressive in itself, would be 
to ignore an established policy with which the honor and 
welfare of this country are closely identified." 



378 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

This frank, elaboiate and advanced paper concluded 
with instructions to the American Minister at London to 
inform Lord Salisbury of its contents, and to urge on him 
that they called for a definite decision upon the ponit 
whether Cxreat Britain would consent or decline to sub- 
mit the Venezuela boundary question in its entirety, to 
impartial arbitration. A prompt reply was also requested, 
in order that the future relations between this country 
and Great Britain might be understood at the State De- 
partment and, if necessary, laid before Congress in the 
President's annual message. 

Lord Salisbury did not reply to this document till No- 
vember 26, 1865. In his reply he took direct issue with 
Secretary Olney as to the applicability of the Monroe Doc- 
trine to the Venezuelan controversy, and denied that the 
dispute was any concern of the United States. As to arbi- 
tration, he took the ground that this mode of settling dis- 
putes of the kind in question was not free from defects, that 
imi.artial arbiters were hard to find, and that the task of 
insuring compliance with an award was always fraught 
with difficulty. At any rate, he reasoned further, the 
question of arbitration was one entirely between the 
parties directly in contest, and that the claim of any third 
nation, unaffected by the controversy, to impose arbitra- 
tion on others had no foundation in the law of nations. 

This reply was so defiant in spirit, or so suggestive ot 
a determination on the part of Great Britain to ignore 
entirely the position of the United States, and to pursue 
her policy of postponement and embarrassment toward 
Venezuela, that President Cleveland submitted a special 
message, bearing on the controversy, to Congress, together 
with the diplomatic correspondence, on December 17, 
1895. This paper, while regarded as timely, was some- 




Hon. Kobeut E. Pattison. 
Born in Quantico. Somerset co., Md., December 8, 1850; moved to 
Ph.Iadeph.a when young and graduated at Central High School- 
admmed to bar 1872; elected Comptroller of Philadelphir, 1877 and 
1880; elected Governor of Pennsylvania, on Democratic ticket 1882- 
apponued member of Pacific R. R. Commission by President CleUland; 
1887; helped to organize and became President of Chestnut Stree 

r?e eTd r ' """"T' "'"'" °' ^°"""^' ^--'^ Co.. Limited; 
re-elected Governor of Pennsylvania, on Democratic ticket, 1890- 
prom.nently mentioned in connexion with Presidential nom.nat.on on 
Democratic ticket in 1896. 




^ Hon. Richard V. Pettigrew. 

Born at Ludlow, Vermont, July, 1S48; moved to Wisconsin, 1854; 
studied at Beloit College, 18G5-G6; member of law class of Wisconsin 
University, 1870; moved to Dakota, 1869; engaged in surveying and 
real estate at vSioux Falls; practiced law since 1872; elected to Dakota 
Legislature, 1877 and 1879; elected Territorial delegate to 47tli Con- 
gress; re-elected to Legislature, 1884-85; member of South Dakota 
Conslitulional Convention, 1883; elected U. S. Senator, as a Republican, 
from South Dakota, October 16, 1889; chairman of Quadro-Centennial 
Committee, and member of Committees on Improvement of Mississippi 
River, Indian Affairs, Public Lands and Railroads; rc-elect'".' io 
Senate in 1895. 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 381 

xvlu.t extraordinarily worrted, and aside from its merits, 
cxcted nuKi, discussion as to its manner, and real value 
as a contribution to tl,e strength of the A.nerican position 
Ihe Pres,dc,.t saw no good reason nhy the Monroe 
Doctrine did not apply to the Venezuela case, since the 
taking possession of the territory of a ucighborii.g Kepub- 
I.o m derogation of i,s rights, by a European power, was 
clearly an attempt on the part of such power to thereby 
extend ,ts system of government on this continent. As 
to the Monroe Doctrine not embodying any principle of 
" ternational law founded on the general consel.t of 
..ations, the President contended that it finds its recoe- 
mtion in those piinciiJcs of international law which are 
based on the theory that every nation shall have its rights 
protected and its just claims enforced. After stating 
fully the posuion of this Government respecting the con 
trover.,y, the President found the reply of Great Britain 
very nnsatisfactoiy. " It is," said he, " deeply disappoint- 
"g t at ,„, , an appeal as ours, actuated by the most 
fi oiully s,.r.t toward both nations directly concerned, 
a dressed to the sense of justice and to the maguanimit; 

elations to one comparatively weak and small, should 
have produced no better results." 
He further said, in substance, that the course of this 

refu 1 o ,"°. T""" """'''^ *'''^' '^■•«»' Britain's fina 
.efusal to arbitrate must be accepted and dealt with ac- 
eorx ingly : that since it could not be hoped that the atti- 

the United States to take measures, for its justification, 

owa d ascertammg for itself what was the tr.ie divisiona 

line between British Guiana and Venezuela. To reach 



382 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

this end, a commission of inquiry was suggested, and an 
upprupiiation asked to meet its expenses. Upon its report, 
farther action on the part of the United States was to be 
based, even to the extent of resisting, by every possible 
means, the aggressions of Gieat Britain beyond such 
boundary as said Commission might decide to be the just 
one. In conclusion the President said, " In making these 
recommendations I am fully alive to the responsibility in- 
curred, and keenly realize all the consequences that may 
follciw. I am, nevertheless, firm in my conviction that, 
while it is a grievous thing to contemplate the two great 
English speaking peoples of the world as being otherwise 
than friendly competitors in the onward march of civiliza- 
tion and strenuous and worthy rivals in all the arts of 
peace, there is no calamity which a great nation can in- 
vite which equals that which follows a supine submission 
to wrong and injustice, and the consequent loss of national 
self-respect and honor, beneath which are shielded and 
defended a people's greatness and safety." 

The publication of this message led to great excitement 
in America and England and called forth a great variety 
of comment. For a time the skies of peace were deeply 
clouded, and mutterings of war were heard along the 
murky horizon. In official circles, and in the Congress, 
the spirit of the message was applauded, not more for its 
bold affirmation of the Monroe Doctrine and its thorough 
going Americanism, than for its contrast with other 
papers of the President, bearing on the foreign policy of 
his administration. 

On the other hand, many newspapers and public 
writers regarded the message as a blunder, construing it 
as purely an emanation of jingoism, as written in bad 
diplomatic taste, in that it contained a threat of war, and 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 383 

as likel}' to place the United States in the same bullying 
categiny as England. The English sentiment was, of 
course, firmly and bitterly against the attitude of the 
President. His message was regarded as a challenge, and 
calculated to awaken only a bellicose spirit on the part of 
i^ngland. 

But however sentiment may have differed among pub- 
licists and nations, the Congress was almost unanimous 
that the nation could well afford to make the position of 
the President its own. So with remarkable piom})titude, -. 
it gave the sanction of a law to the ajipointment of such 
commission of inquiry as the President had suggested, 
and authorized a liberal a[)propriation to pay all expenses. 
The President speedily announced the commission and set 
it to work to ascertain a boundary which this nation could 
afford to accept as righteous, and upon which it could 
honorably and finally rel}' in the maintainance of its atti- 
tude toward the disputing parties and in the defense of 
its material and political interests as a distinguished mem- 
ber of the sisterhood of western republics. 

The Moneoe Doctjiine. 

We now turn to the Monroe Doctrine, which the Ven- 
ezuelan dispute brought into such prominence, A\hich, as 
we have seen, has within it the possibilities of war, and 
which seemingly needs occasional patriotic spurts to keep 
it in memor}-, and enlarge its meaning in proportion to 
our growing importance as a western republic. Our re- 
view of it will be historical rather than critical. 

If not in its very incei)tion, at least in the earliest en- 
couragement given to it, the Monroe Doctrine was as 
much English as American. The restoration of Louis 
XVIII. to the tlirone of France, after Napoleon's defeat 



^''' 



384 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

at Waterloo, was the signal for a congress of the allied kings 
of Europe at Paris. The rulers of Russia, Prussia and 
Austria so met and formed a league called ''The Holy 
Alliance," whose object was to stamp out all constitu- 
tional governments, banish liberal ideas, and establish all 
powers in accordance with the principles of the Christian 
religion. They tiuis explained the pledge that passed 
between them:— "They had no other aim than to mani- 
fest to the world their nnchangeable determination to 
ado[)t no rule of conduct either in the government of 
their respective countries or in their political relations 
witii other govennnents than the precepts of that holy 
religion, the precepts of justice, charity and peace." 

This innocent appearing alliance was joined, in two 
months, by England, and immediately perverted by treaty 
to the special object of an alliance to exclude Napoleon 
forever from power, maintain the government they had 
just set up in France, resist all attacks on the armies then 
occupying France, and meet in 1818 to consult respecting 
the condition of Europe. 

The four powers met, according to agreement, at Aix- 
laChapelle. They found monarchy so firmly established 
in France, that the army of occupation was withdrawn, 
and Louis XVIII. admitted to a vote in the affairs of 
Europe. But Spain was in dire straits. Her South 
American colonies were, and had been, in open revolt. 
She had well-nigh exhausted her resources in attempting 
to subjugate them, and had apjjealed to both Russia and 
England for aid. Russia sold to Spain an unseaworthy 
fleet. England refused aid, fearing to lose her commerce 
with the rebellious colonies. The Czar laid the Spanish 
condition before the powers, in a paper which described 
the dangers to which European monarchies would be ex- 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 385 

posed if a fedevation of republics were allowed to grow 
up in the western Hemisphere. From this it became ap- 
parent what "government in accordance with the prin- 
ciples of the Christian religion," meant, and the direction 
to be given to the "precepts of justice, charity and 
peace." 

'['he Czar proposed a conference of European ambassa- 
dors at Madrid, over which the Duke of Wellington was 
to preside, having for its object to decide what teims 
Spain should offer to her colonies. England refused to 
join this conference. S])ain was left to iight her colonial 
battles alone. She carried on her American wars in sucii 
a \va\' as to breed revolution at home. Liberalism br(dje 
forth with such fury as to compel King Ferdinand to 
adopt a new constitution. The fires of revolution s})read 
to Portugal, and a Cortes was elected to frame a liberal 
constitution. France would have yielded to the popular 
furore, but the original members of the Holy Alliance, 
Russia, Prussia, Austria, with England and France as 
lookers-on, met at Troppan, in Moravia in 1820, and ad- 
journed to meet the next 3'ear at Laybach. 

The Congress at Laybach adjourned to meet at Vienna, 
in 1822, but really met in Verona, where the question of 
overtui'uing the new liberal constitution in Spain and re- 
establishing absolute monarchy was long debated, with 
the result that certain changes in the Spanish constitution 
should be demanded, and if not granted, that a French 
army shonld invade Si)ain and com[)el acquiescence. Spain 
refused the demands, and a French army crossed the line 
and occupied Madrid and Cadiz. 

The object of the Holy Alliance now became plainer 
than ever. If its accredited army could enter a neighbor- 
ing domain and force a change of government in accord- 



386 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

ance with its wishes, it would not hesitate to settle in an 
equally heroic way the affairs of the Spanish and Portu- 
guese colonies in America, or wherever found. The eyes 
of American statesmen were fixed intently on this situa- 
tion, for most of the revolting colonies had become re- 
publics and had been recognized by the United States. 
To admit that absolute monarchism, under the plea of 
" government in accordance with the Christian Religion," 
or under the thin disguise of an Holy Alliance, should 
again become the fate of these young Republics was horri- 
fying to our people, and dangerous to the ascendency of 
the Republican idea on the Western Continent. 

England became interested also in the pretensions of 
the allied monarchs, for she had large colonial interests in 
America which might be seriously affected by the absolute 
monarchical claims of the Holy Allies. This was in 1823, 
and Canning was premier of England. The American 
Ambassador at London was Richard Rush. Canning 
proposed to Rush that the United States should join 
England in a declaration to the effect that while neither 
power desired the colonies of Spain for herself, it was im- 
possible to look with indifference on European interven- 
tion in their affairs, or to see them acquired by a third 
power. 

Canning received notice that in the latter part of 
1823 a Congress of the allied monarchs would meet to 
consider the affairs of Spanish America. He urged upon 
Rush the propriety of a quick answer to his proposition 
to him. Rush, without waiting for home instructions, 
ventured to pen the following in reply, promising to join 
the United States with England in making it a formal dec 
laiation, on condition that England would first acknowl. 
edge the independence of the western republics: — "Tfe 



THE MONllOE DOCTRINE. SST 

should regard as hi</hli/ unjust and asfruiiful of disastrous 
consequences a)iy attempt on the part of any European poiver 
to take possession of them by conquest, by cession, or on any 
ground or pretext ivhatsoever.'^ 

Plere were the geins of the Monroe Doctrine. Rush's 
bold, sagacious but unauthorized announcement was made 
at the instance of the English premier, and as part of a 
plan by which both the United States and England might 
head off the proposed scheme of the allied monarchs of 
Europe to interfere with the young American republics 
and reintroduce governments of monarchical form. But 
while Rush's announcement was such as England had 
proposed, Rush coupled its public promulgation and the 
final joining of his name and country in it with England 
with the condition that England should first recognize the 
independence of the young American republics. This 
England refused to do, and the joint declaration was 
never made. 

That the policy thus far was original with England, and 
was really more English than American, is plain from the 
reasons urged upon j\Ir. Rush by Mr. Cannijig. P'urther, 
Mr. Canning had evidently conceived of the policy, not as 
a temporary expedient but as one of perpetual applica- 
tion, for he thus said to Rush: — " The United States were 
the first power established on the continent, and now con- 
fessedly tlie leading power. They are connected with 
South America by their position and with Europe by their 
relations. AVas it possible they could see with indiffer- 
ence their fate decided upon by Europe? Had not a new 
epoch arrived in the relative position of the United States 
toward Europe which Europe must acknowledge? Were 
the great political and commercial interests which hung 
upon the destiny of the new continent to be canvassed 



388 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

and adjusted on this hemisphere without the cooperation 
or even knowledge of the United States ? " 

The above was embodied in Rush's letter upon the sub- 
ject addressed to Monroe's Secretary of State, John 
Quincy Adams. The importance of the matter, the 
strength and urgency of Rush's reasons, the singularity of 
the proposition as emanating from England, seem to have 
disconcerted President Monroe. He found liimself con- 
fronted with the solemn, and then popular, advice of 
Washington in his Farewell Address, an advice wliich 
had become almost a policy in itself, and which ran: 

" Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have 
none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be en- 
gaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are 
essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it 
must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial 
ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or the 
ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or 
enmities. Our detached and distant situation invites and 
enables us to pursue a different course." 

Jefferson's warning against entangling foreign alli- 
ances, in his first inaugural, had been equally strong. 
Monroe, himself, had in two inaugurals and an half a 
dozen other messages, seriously advised against violation 
of the policy of non intervention in the affairs of the 
colonies. No wonder he was in a quandary over Rusli's 
letters and the proposition of a new and widely variant 
policy. He had not the courage to venture on a depart- 
ure so radical as the one proposed, till ■ he thoroughly 
weio-hed the situation. In his doubt he sent the Rush 
correspondence to Thomas Jefferson, then in retiracy at 
Monticello, for review and the expression of an opinion. 
Jefferson's reply came with no uncertain sound, and it will 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 389 

be seen from it tliat he hesitated not to run counter, in 
great part, to the policy he had hillierto accepted and pro- 
mulgated, lie said : 

" The question presented by the letters you have sent 
me is the most momentous wliich has ever been offered to 
my contemplation since that of Independence. Tlmt 
made us a nation ; this sets our compass and points the 
course which we are to steer through the ocean of time 
opening on us. And never could we embark up(ui it 
under circumstances more auspicious. Our first and fun- 
damental maxim should be, never to entangle ourselves 
in the broils of Europe ; our second, never to suffer Europe 
to intermeddle with cisatlantic affairs. America, North 
and South, has a set of interests distinct from those of 
Europe, and peculiarly her own. She should, therefore, 
have a system of her own, separate and apart from that 
of Europe. While the last is laboring to become the 
domicil of despotism, our endeavor should be to make 
our hemisphere that of freedom." 

Thus encouraged by one in whom he had so great con- 
fidence, Monroe made the subject one of special study, 
seeking the advice and cooperation of his cabinet, and of 
others, with a view to all the practical conse({uences of a 
formal declaration of the new doctrine. It was seen that 
while the policy enumerated by Wasliington and puisued 
by his successors took America out of thedomainof Europe 
politics, it was silent as to the part Europe might be yer- 
mitted to play in America. Doubtless it was thought the 
latest addition to the family of nations should not make 
haste to prescribe rules for the guidance of its older mem- 
bers, and the expediency and propriety of serving the 
powers of Europe with notice of a comj)lete and distinct- 
ive American policy excluding them from interference 



390 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

with American political affairs, might well seem dubious 
to a generation to wliora the French alliance, with its 
manifold advantages to the cause of American independ- 
ence, was fresh in mind. 

Twenty years later, however, the situation had changed. 
The lately born nation had greatly increased in power and 
resources, had demonstrated its strength on land and sea, 
and as well in the conflicts of arms as in tlie pursuits of 
peace, and had begun to realize the commanding position 
on this continent, which the character of its people, their 
free institutions, and their remoteness from the chief scene 
of European contentions combined to give to it. The 
Monroe administration therefore did not hesitate to accept 
and appl}' the logic of the farewell address by declaring, 
in effect, that American non-intervention in European 
affairs necessarily implied and meant European non-inter- 
vention in American affairs. Conceiving unquestionably 
that complete European non-interference in American con- 
cerns would be cheaply purchased by complete American 
non interference in European concerns, President Monroe, 
in tlie celebiated message of December 2, 1823, thus for- 
mulated the doctrine which afterwards took his name : 

" In the wars of the European powers in matters relat- 
ing to themselves we have never taken any part, nor does 
it comport with our policy to do so. It is only when our 
rights are invaded or seriously menaced that we resent 
injuries or make preparations for our defense. With the 
movements in this hemisphere we are, of necessit}^, more 
immediately connected, and b}^ causes which must be 
obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The 
political system of the allied powers is essentially different 
in this respect from that of America. This difference pro- 
ceeds from that which exists in their respective Govern- 



THE MOXROE DOCTRINE. 391 

nients. And to the defense of our own, which has been 
achieved by the loss of so nnich bloud and treasure, and 
matured by the wisdom of our most enliglitened citizens, 
and under which we liave enjoyed uncxan)pled felicity, 
tliis whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to 
candor and to the amicable relations existing between the 
United States and those powers to declare that we should 
consider any attempt on their part to extend their system 
to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our 
peace and safety. 

" With the existing colonies or dependencies of any 
European power we have not interfered and shall not in- 
terfere. But with the Governments who have declared 
their independence and maintained it, and whose inde- 
pendence we have, on great consideration and on just 
principles, acknowledged, we could not view any inter- 
position for the puipose of oppressing them, or controlling 
in any other manner their destiny, by any European 
power, in an}' other light than as the manifestation of an 
unfriendly disposition toward the United States. * * * 
Our policy in regard to Europe, which was adopted at an 
early stage of the wars which have so long agitated that 
quarter of the globe, nevertheless remains the same, which 
is not to interfere in the internal concerns of any of its 
powers ; to consider the Government de facto as the legit- 
imate Government for us ; to cultivate friendly relations 
with it, and to preserve those relations by a fraidc, firm, 
and manly policy, meeting, in all instances, the just claims 
of every power, submitting to injuries from none. But 
in regard to these continents, circumstances are eminently 
and conspicuously different. It is impossible that the 
allied powers should extend their political system to any 
portion of either continent without endangering our peace 



392 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

and happiness ; nor can any one believe that our Southern 
brethren, if left to themselves, would adopt it of their 
own accord. It is equally impossible, therefore, that we 
should behold such interposition, in any form with indif- 
ference." 

The Monroe administration, however, did not content 
itself with formulating a correct rule for the regulation of 
the relations between Europe and America. It aimed at 
also securing the practical benefits to result from the appli- 
cation of the rule. Hence the message just quoted de- 
clared that the American continents were fully occupied 
and were not the subjects for future colonization by Euro- 
pean powers. To this spirit and this purpose also are to 
be attributed the passages of the same message which 
treat any infringement of the rule against interference in 
American affairs on the part of the powers of Europe as 
an act of unfriendliness to the United States. It was 
realized that it was futile to lay down such a rule unless 
its observance could be enforced. It was manifest that 
the United States was the only power in this hemisphere 
capable of enforcing it. It was therefore courageously 
declared not merely that Europe ought not to interfere in 
American affairs, but that any European power doing so 
would be regarded as antagonizing the interests and invit- 
ing the opposition of tiie United States. 

The announcement of the Monroe Doctrine to the world 
'brought speedy opportunity for its explanation, develop- 
ment and application. Gallatin applied it in his French 
diplomacy. Clay, as Secretary of State, thus instructed our 
Minister to Mexico respecting it in 1825: " The other 
principle asserted in the message is that while we do not 
desire to interfere in Europe witli the political system of 
the allied powers, we should regard as dangerous to our 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 393 

oeace and safety any atti'ni})t on tlieir part to extend 
Uieir system to any part of this lieniispliere. The po- 
litical systems of the two continents are essentially 
different. Eaoh has an exclusive right to judge for itself 
ivhat is best suited to its own condition and most likely to 
promote its hap[)iness, but neither has a right to enforce 
upon the other the establishment of its peculiar system. 
This principle was declared in the face of the world at a 
moment when there was reason to ajjpreliend that the 
allied powers were entertaining designs inimical to the 
freedom if not to the independence of the new Govern- 
ments. There is a ground for believing that the declara- 
tion of it liad considerable effect in preventing, if not in 
producing the abandonment of all such designs. Both 
jirinciples w^ere laid down after much and anxious delib- 
eration on the part of the late administriition. The Pres- 
ident, who then formed a part of it, continues entirely to 
coincide in both. And you will urge upon the Govern- 
ment of Mexico the utility and expediency of asserting 
the same principles on all occasions." 

The new doctrine i)assed through the fierce fires of 
partisan debate, when what Avas called the Panama Mis- 
sion was up for discussion in the Congress in 1826. 
Columbia and jNIexico had invited the United States to 
be represented at a Congress of Republics at Panama. 
One of the aims of this Congress, as stated in the invita- 
tion, was to consider " the means of making effectual the 
declarations of the President of the United States 
respecting any ulterior design of foreign power to colo- 
nize any portion of this continent, and also the means of 
resisting all interference from abroad with the domestic 
concerns of American Governments." 

President Adams, Clay, Webster, and a host of power- 



394 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

fill statesmen approved of sending commissioners. They 
were opposed by many able men, in a purely partisan 
spirit, among whom were Polk and Buchanan, both of 
whom lived to reverse their arguments and positions. 
The result of the debate was a resolution of the House 
practically affirming the Monroe Doctrine in two essen- 
tials, (1) that the United States should form no alliance 
with any foreign nation, nor join it in any declaration 
concerning the interference of any European power in its 
affairs, and (2) that we act toward them in any crisis as 
our honor and policy may at the time dictate. 

In the debates of 1826, Polk took the ground that 
Monroe's declaration was a " mere expression of executive 
opinion, designed to produce an effect on the Holy Alli- 
ance in relation to their supposed intention to interfere 
in the war between Spain and her former colonies. It had 
probably produced the designed effect, and therefore, per- 
formed its office. President Monroe had no power to 
bind the nation by his pledges." In 1845, M'hen Mr. 
Polk was President and confronted with such momentous 
questions as the Mexican war and trouble with England over 
the Oregon boundary, he said in his message to Congress : — 
"In the existing circumstances of the world, the present 
is deemed a proper occasion to reiterate and reaffirm the 
principle avowed by Mr. Monroe, and to state my cordial 
concurrence in its wisdom and sound policy. The reas- 
sertion of this principle, especially in reference to North 
America, is, at this day, but the promulgation of a policy 
which no European power should cherish the disposition 
to resist. Existing rights of every European nation 
should be respected, but it is due alike to our safety and 
our interests that the efficient protection of our laws, 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 395 

should be extended over our whole territorial limits, and 
that it should be distinctly announced to the world as our 
settled policy, that no futuie European colony or domin- 
ion, with our consent, be planted or established on any 
part of the North American Continent." 

Again in 1848, when war was being waged in Yucatan, 
between the Indians and whites, and when the former had 
appealed to England and Spain for aid, President Polk 
sounded the following note of warning : — " While it is 
not our purpose to recommend the adoption of any 
measure with a view to the acquisition of dominion and 
sovereignty over Yucatan, yet according to our established 
policy we could not consent to a transfer of this dominion 
and sovereignty to either Spain, Great Britain or any 
other European ])0\ver. In the language of President 
Monroe, in his message of December, 1823, we should 
consider any attempt on their part to extend their system 
to any portion of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our 
peace and safety." 

And so Buchanan, during his presidential term, re- 
versed liis position in the debates of 1826, and stoutly 
adhered to the Monroe Doctrine. It was in 1859-60, 
when England, France and Spain had decided on armed 
intervention in the then distracted affairs of Mexico. In 
his message of 1859, President Buchanan advised the 
employment of a sufficient military force to penetrate into 
the inteiior of Mexico, if necessar3\ In his message of 
1860, he deprecates the failure to thus employ force, by 
saying: 

" European Governments would have been deprived of 
all pretext to interfere in the territorial and domestic con- 
cerns of Mexico. We should thus have been relieved 



396 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

from the obligation of resisting, even by force should this 
become necessary, any attempt by these Governments to 
deprive our neighboring republic of portions of her terri- 
tory — a duty from which we could not shrink without 
abandoning the traditional and established policy of the 
American people." 

In the debates of 1826, Mr. Webster thus replied to 
those who were contending that the Monroe Doctrine was 
a mere executive opinion, of transitory moment : 

"Sir, I agree with those who maintain the proposition, 
and I contend against those who deny it, that the message 
did mean something ; that it meant much ; and I main- 
tain against both that the declaration effected much good, 
answered the end designed by it, did great honor to the 
foresight and the spirit of the Government, and that it 
cannot now be taken back, retracted, or annulled without 
disgrace. It met. Sir, with the entire concurrence and 
the hearty approbation of the country. The tone which 
it uttered found a corresponding response in the breasts 
of the free people of the United States. That people 
saw, and they rejoiced to see, that on a fit occasion our 
w^eight had been thrown into the right scale, and that, 
without departing from our duty, we had done something 
useful and something effectual for the cause of civil 
liberty. One general glow of exultation, qne universal 
feeling of the gratified love of liberty, one conscious and 
proud perfection of the considerations which the country 
possessed, and of the respect and honor which belonged 
to it, pervaded all bosoms." 

Mr. Seward thus affirmed the doctrine in 1861: 

" The Government of the United States would regard 
with grave concern and dissatisfaction movements in 




IlON. JaME.S L. PUGII. 

Born in Burke Co., Ga., December 12, 1820 ; moved early to Ala- 
bama, and received academic education ; admitted to bar in 1841, and 
acquired a lucrative practice ; elected to 36th Congress, but withdrew 
when Stale seceded ; served in Confederate army; elected to Confederate 
Congress, 18G1-63; resumed law practice at Eufaula ; member of Con- 
vention that framed St:ite Consiiuition in 1875; elected to U. S. Senate 
in 1880; re-elected IS84 and 1890; member of Committees on Educa- 
tion and Judiciary, Privileges and Elections, Revolutionary Claims and 
Extension of Congressional Library. 




Hon. Hedfield Proctor. 

Born at Proctorsville, Vermont, June 1, 1831 ; graduated from Dart- 
mouth, 1851, and from Albany Law School in 1859; practiced law 
in Boston; served in Army 1861-63 ; rose to be Colonel of Fifteenth 
Vermont Volunteers; returned to practice of law; elected to Assembly, 
1867-68; again, 1888; served in St;ite Senate, 1874-76; elected Lieu- 
tenant-Governor, 1876; advanced to Governor, 1878 ; delegate-at-large 
to Republican National Conventions, 1884, ] 888 ; appointed Secretary 
of War by President Harrison, 1889; resigned November 1, 1891, to 
take place of Senator Edmunds in United States Senate ; and October 
18, 1892, was elected to fill both the unexpired and the full terms, liis 
term expires in 1899. 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 399 

Cuba to introduce Spanish autliorit}- uitliiu the territory 
of Dominica." 

President Grant's position in 1870, was this: 

" The allied and other Republics of Spanish origin on 
this continent may see in this fact a new proof of our sin- 
cere interest in their welfare ; of our desire to see them 
blessed with good Government, capable of maintaining 
order and of preserving their respective territorial integ- 
rity, and of our sincere wish to extend our own commer- 
cial and social relations with them. The time is not 
probably far distant when, in the natural course of events, 
the European political connection with this continent will 
cease. Our politics will be shaped in view of this prob- 
ability, so as to all}'' the commercial interests of the 
Spanish-American States more closely to our own, and 
thus give the United States all the preeminence and all 
the advantages which Mr. Monroe, Mr. Adams, and Mr. 
Clay contemplated when they proposed to join in the 
Congress of Panama." 

President Cleveland, in his special message of Decem- 
ber 17, 1895, npon the boundary controversy between 
Gieat Britain and Venezuela, thus applied the doctrine : 

"Without attenii)ting extended argument in rejjl}'' to 
these positions, it may not be amiss to suggest that the 
<loctrine upon wliich we stand is strong and sound because 
its enforcement is important to our peace and safety as a 
nation, and is essential to the integrity of our free insti- 
tutions and the tranquil maintenance of our distinctive 
form of Government. It was intended to apply to every 
stage of our National life, and cannot become obsolete 
while our Republic endures. If the balance of power is 
justly a cause for jealous anxiety among the Governments 
23 



400 THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 

of the Old World and a subject for our absolute nonin- 
lerference, none the less is an observance of the Monroe 
i^octrine of vital concern to our people and their Govern- 
icuent. 

"Assuming, therefore, that we may properly insist upon 
this doctrine without regard to ' the state of things in 
which we live,' or any changed conditions here or else- 
Tvhere, it is not apparent why its application may not be 
invoked in the present controversy. 

"If a European power, by an extensionof its boundaries, 
takes possession of the territory of one of our neighboring 
Republics against its will and in derogation of its rights, 
it is difficult to see why, to that extent, such European 
power does not thereby attempt to extend its system of 
Government to that portion of this continent which is 
thus taken. This is the precise action which President 
Monroe declared to be ' dangerous to our peace and 
safety,' and it can make no difference whether the 
European system is extended by an advance of frontier 
or otherwise." 

Thus the Monroe Doctrine has been accepted as a pub- 
lic law of the country ever since its announcement. It 
w^as the controlling factor in the emancipation of South 
America, and to it the independent states which now divide 
that region between them are largely indebted for their 
very existence. Since then the most striking single 
achievement to be credited to the rule is the evacuation 
of Mexico by the French upon the termination of the 
Civil war. But we are also indebted to it for the provi- 
sions of the Clayton Bulwer treaty, which both neutral- 
ized any interoceanic canal across Central America and 
expressly excluded Great Britain from occupying or ex- 
ercising any dominion over any part of Cental America. 



THE MONROE DOCTRINE. 401 

It lias been used in tlie case of Cuba as if justifying the 
position that, wliile the sovereignty of Spain will be re- 
spected, the island will not be permitted to become the 
possession of any other European power. It has been in. 
fluential in bringing about the definite rclinqihshment of 
any supposed protectorate by Great Britain over the Mos- 
quito coast. 



i 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 



First Point of View. 

Every effort of Cuba to liberate herself from the gal- 
ling yoke of Spain has met with large sympathy in the 
United States. The more modern the efforts, the larger 
the sympathy. The revolution in the island, on in its 
fury in 1896, so impressed our people that the Congress 
felt warranted by resolution in expressing its horror of 
Spain's conduct toward this, its richest colony, and, by 
implication, the hope of that colony's success in its effort 
for independence. The passage of the resolution through 
both houses brought forth in each a depth of sentiment 
which did not hesitate to hold Spain up to the civilized 
world as a rapacious and tyrannical monster, unworthy of 
respect as mistress of a fruitful island, and a veritable 
stumbling-block in the march of a people inspired with 
free notions. Doubtless, much of the boldness and bitter- 
ness of speech was intended as a prick for a seemingly 
slothful and indifferent President, and it was only the in- 
tent to give the Executive a little time to study the direc- 
tion of the wind of popular sentiment that prevented the 
Congress from making its resolution a joint one, and to 
include a grant of full belligerent rights to the struggling 
Cubans. 

This question of our encouragement in the shape of an 
(402) 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 403 

offer ot belligerent rights opened np the whole subject of 
Spanish and Cuban relations, and imposed on our govern- 
ment a task as delicate as it was exacting. Historically con- 
sidered, the task was an old one, and had been variously viewed 
and weighed. We find that with wrestling with it, such a 
grave statesman as John Quincy Adams had thrown him- 
self open to the charge of jingoism by the announcement 
that, 

"These islands [Cuba and Porto Rico] from their local 
position are natural appendages to the North American 
continent, and one of them, Cuba, almost in sight of our 
shores, has, from a nuiltitude of considerations, become an 
object of transcendent importance to the commercial and 
political interest of our Union. . . . Sucli, indeed, are 
the relations between that island and this country, the 
geographical, commercial, moral, and political relations 
formed by nature, gathering in the process of time, and 
even now verging to maturity, that in looking forward to 
the probable course of events for the short period of half 
a century, it is scarcely possible to resist the conviction 
that the annexation of Cuba to our Federal republic will 
be indispensable to the continuance and integrity of the 
Union itself. . . . Cuba, foicibly disjoined from its own 
unnatural connection with Spain, and incapable of self- 
support, can gravitate only toward the North American 
Union, wliicli b}- the same law of nature cannot cast her 
off from its bosom." 

Nor w\as Cia}' less pronounced in his opinion of a situa- 
tion hardly differing fi'om that of 1896, wiien he said, 

" If the war slionld continue between Spain and the new 
republics, and those islands [Cuba and Porto Rico] should 
become the object and theatre of it, their fortunes have 
such a connection with the prosperity of the United States 



404 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

that they could not be indifferent spectators, and the pos- 
sible contingencies of such a protracted war might bring 
u[:on the goverument of the United States duties and ob- 
ligations, the performance of which, however painful it 
should be, tliey might not be at liberty to decline." 

These expressions of public opinion, uttered by the 
wisest statesmen of their day, sliow that the Cuban ques- 
ticin is by no means a new one, but that it dates back in 
all its solemn depth and multiform ramifications to quite 
an early period in our history. Late attempts at its solu- 
tion are not novel. Tiie boldness and violence of speech 
in the 54th Congress respecting it have been heard before, 
the patriotic outbursts liave been witnessed, the threats of 
war encountered. 

But these facts intensify, rather than chill, interest in 
tlie question, for it is conceded that almost enough of 
years have elapsed to bring about a consummation such as 
every Cuban patriot has devoutly wished and strenuously 
striven for. Therefore, in making up the history of the 
Cuban problem it will appear strange that administrations 
prior to that of Mr. Cleveland, have uniformly declared to 
Spain and the world that the condition of Cuba was a 
matter in whicli the United States had a vital interest and 
wliich could never be disregarded. To put it in the bold 
language of Edward Everett, "the Cuban question is 
purely an American one." 

Especially is this true of that phase of the question 
which contemplated the transfer of the island to some 
more powerful and, perhaps, congenial European power 
than Spain, even if the object in view were the payment 
of debts which Spain could not otherwise hope to liqui- 
date. It has been repeated by our Secretaries of State, 
and by Senators and members of Congress that the United 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 405 

States could never suffer Cuba to pass into the hands of 
another European power. It has been often announced 
by our representatives abroad that any attempt on the 
part of Spain to transfer Cuba to another European 
power would be regarded by the United States as an act 
of war. And this could hardly be otherwise, for the situa- 
tion of the island is such as to make its possession by 
other than Spain a double menace to our commerce and 
to our coasts. Such has been the interest of the United 
States in the island that during the war of 1868, an offer 
of a large sum of money, or a guarantee of the Cuban 
debt, was made if Spain would declare the independence 
of the island. Later on, and during the same uprising, a 
threat of intervention was made by the United States. 

Thus our policy as to Cuba and our foreign relations 
have taken shape. Whether they shall be modified, or 
what further shape they shall take, depends on a full un- 
derstanding of the histor}' of Cuba and of the attitude of 
the United States toward her, not in the line of selfishness, 
but in the interest of humanity and civilization. 

Cuba remained faithful to Spain amid all those revolu- 
tions wliich swept away her South American possessions 
and made them Republics. True there were juntas there 
wliich had aided tlie Republics, and, as a compensation, 
Bolivar offered to pay off the debt by helping the island 
to obtain independence of Spain. He was persuaded to 
desist by this country for certain diplomatic reasons. 
Spain suspected the whole island of insincerity in her 
allegiance, and in 1825 transferred to the captain-general 
all the authority of the local go-vernors. This was as 
much as to proclaim the island under martial law, and 
with the event began the history of Cuba's resistance to 
the sweeping and needless tyranny of Spain. Since then, 



406 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

each revolutionary outbreak has become more desperate 
and formidable than the preceding one. 

The march of these revolutions have been, in brief, the 
insurrection of 1826, resulting in the execution of the two 
leaders ; the " Conspiracy of the bald Eagles," quickly 
repressed, and the leaders, imprisoned, banished or exe- 
cuted ; the exclusion of the Cuban and Porto-Ricom rep- 
resentatives from the Cortes in 1837, on the ground that 
special laws were applicable to the islands ; the expedi- 
tions under Quitman and others in 1855, where many 
leaders were executed and others banished. 

Now many years elapsed during which the Cubans en- 
deavored by peaceful means to secure from Si)ain relief 
from their oppression and wrongs. Every change that 
Spain could be induced to make w"as made for the worse. 
With the decadence of Spanish power the island became 
a more imposing part of empire. With the increase of 
Spanish debt, the island became a more necessarj- source 
of revenue. The tyranny that was at first natural on the 
part of Spain, became imperative as a means of squeezing 
every available dollar from patient and opulent subjects. 

The revolution of 1868, under Cespedes, was inevitable. 
Years of oppression had pointed to it. Though it was 
limited to the eastern portion of the island, it lasted 
for ten years and was only brought to an end by a 
treaty in which Spain promised to the revolutionists the 
reforms for which they had taken up arms. Thus the 
revolutionists gained a moral victory, and one which 
crippled the already broken power of Spain. They laid 
down their arms, and kept their compact. But not so 
with Spain. The treaty with her was a mere pretext. 
She disregarded her pledges of amnesty in great part, and 
imprisoned or executed many who had been engaged in 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 407 

the insurgent cause. Hev promised reforms were eitlier 
withheld, or proposed and carried out in a spirit of mock- 
ery. They were of no value to the island in either politi- 
cal or commercial sense. If any result followed, it was to 
aggravate a strained situation by supplementing tyranny 
with treachery and bloodshed. In the Spanish attitude 
were all the seeds of further revolt, and the period frtmi 
1878 to 1895 was one of civic protest and warlike prepara- 
tion. 

The flames of revolution broke out anew in 1895, and 
under auspices far different from those of former out- 
bursts. The feeling back of it was one of intense ani- 
mosity toward Spain on account of her broken pledges, 
manifest double dealing and bloody cruelty. It w'as a 
wider-spread and more unanimous feeling than ever before. 
The quiet warlike preparations had brought to the front 
men of executive force and considerable military experi- 
ence. There was abroad a local spirit of amor patrice, and 
a supreme confidence inspired by leadership and organiza- 
tion. There was little money, few arms and supplies, but 
it was felt these would come after a few successes along 
lines of matured military plan, and especially through the 
agency of that sympathy which was sure to be evoked in 
the bosoms of Cuban residents in the United States, and 
perhaps among all lovers of liberty and independence. 

The first sound of arms was in 1895 when General 
Gomez landed 500 men on the extreme end of Cuba, near 
Santiago de Cuba. Around this nucleus gathered other 
forces under the lead of such men as Maceo. By rapid 
accretions the number swelled to 30,000, all fairly armed. 
The number could have readily been made 60,000 had arms 
been obtainable. Tlie leaders wished to avoid the troubles 
and excesses incident to an untrained, unarmed rabble, 



408 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

hence they wisely organized and mobilized only those they 
could aim and render effective in the field. 

The ten year rebellion of 1868-78 had been confined to 
the eastern part of the island. This localization, desirable 
in every sense on the part of Spain, was a serious draw- 
back to the insurgents. It dwarfed operations and senti- 
ment respecting them. It prevented the spread of en- 
thusiasm, and interfered with those cooperative uprisings 
the earlier insurgents had a right to expect. This upris- 
ing would avoid many of the errors of former ones. In a 
single year the Cuban army M'as marched from the east to 
the west of the island, through fruitful provinces, sources 
of the great wealth which Spain extracted from the island, 
and past the lines of Sjianish soldiers thrown across the 
island to break the force of insurrection. Havana was 
encircled and repeatedly threatened. Her inland commu- 
nications were often cut, and the sugar and tobacco plan- 
tations largely devastated. Spain augmented her armies 
in Cuba till a force of over 100,000 men was on the scene, 
yet the operations of the insurgents received no serious 
check. They passed and repassed the celebrated trocha, 
or armed trench across the island, with ease and without 
loss, always, of course, avoiding decisive battles for want 
of heavy artillery. In strategy they were more than a 
match for tlie Spaniards, and in their tactical delays, forays 
and surjn-ises tliey pioved more formidable than if they 
had sought successes through direct blows. They saw their 
foes harried and weakened at every point, exhausted by 
exertion here, mutinous for lack of food there, decimated 
by disease everywhere. Spain's best military talent was 
disconcerted, and could neither prepare nor deliver an ef- 
fective blow. Time, which was everything to Spain in her 
impoverished condition, was in complete control of the in- 



OUR CUBAN IIKLATIONS. 409 

surgeiits, who lengtliened it to suit themselves, and spread 
it out so as to mature their own plans, or till they witnessed 
the dissipation of offensive projects on the part of their 
foes. Spain held nolhing securely l)y means of lier armies, 
except her armed camps near seaports, and these latter 
were held by means of warships. In any liberal n)ilitary 
sense the insurgents were possessors of the island, and 
could not be ousted. They had enjoyed a militarj' success 
far beyond their most sanguine expectations. 

Meanwhile, they had held two elections of national im- 
port to them, had set up a provisional guvernment at a 
stated capital, and had drafted and adupted a constitution. 
Civic officers had been inaugurated and civic officers duly 
installed. Generals and minor army officers held their 
commissions by virture of regular constituted civic author- 
ity. Official life represented the two races on the island, 
white and black, the burden of civic affairs falling to tlie 
whites, the blacks being represented in the field by the 
two able Maceos and others. The seat of government 
was not stable. It could not be by virtue of circumstances, 
for it had to keep pace with the swift moving camps. Yet 
it was none the less a seat of government, always a desir- 
able object of attack by the Spaniards, yet never captured. 

What the insurgents lacked most, at the end of a 
year's fighting, was a seaport. Tliis fact was urged 
against them by Spain and her friends in America in the 
arguments against a state of actual war on the island and 
the propriety of granting belligerent rights to the strug- 
gling patri(jts. But they more than once proved their 
ability to capture seaports, as at Batabano. There was 
hardly a time when they were not confident of being able 
to capture any of the Spanish seaports. Their inability 
to hold them, however, through lack of heavy guns and 



410 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

battle ships, made their possession undesirable. In reality 
there was no need for them. The minor ports were open^ 
and but little difticulty was experienced in obtaining food 
and munitions of war from friends in other countries. 

It is, of course, difficult to verify absolutely all the 
foregoing history. But it is such as is furnished to the 
world by the best authorities at command, to wit, disin- 
terested travelers and correspondents, American consuls, 
and otheis. Spanish officials, by means of an imperious 
censorship, and even by resort to imprisonment of news 
gatherers, permitted no report to go out from the island 
except those colored to suit their interests. Yet it was 
submitted by the friends of Cuba in America that enough 
was surely known to make out a case on which the United 
States could securely stand, should it choose to grant bel 
ligerent rights to the Cubans. 

As put by one publicist of note, the case historically 
resolved itself into this : 

" The island of Cuba, which lies but a short distance 
from our coast, is now again, after recurring revolutions 
and disorders extending over seventy years, the scene of 
a revolution more formidable and successful than any 
which has preceded it. American property in the island 
is being destroyed, and our commerce with Cuba is being 
ruined. The ablest and most humane general in Spain, 
wlio brought the previous insurrection to a close by judi- 
cious concessions, has been recalled, — which is in itself a 
confession of failure, — and has been replaced by a man 
notorious for his ferocity and brutality. This new gen- 
eral, Weyler, has reverted to the methods of warfare em- 
ployed by the Duke of Alva in the Netherlands three 
liundred years' ago, when the ruin of the Spanish Empire 
began ; which is very characteristic, for the Spaniards, 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 411 

altlioiigli they learn iiotliiiig, have, unlike the Bourbons, 
forgotten man}- things. For many years it has been clear 
that Spain could not hold the island. If this war fails, it 
will be followed by another a few years hence. But it 
seems tolerably clear that Spain is unable to suppress this 
insurrection. She may complete the ruin of Cuba, but 
she cannot conquer the Cubans. The present war there- 
fore is as useless as it is bloody and savage." 

It is reasonably clear, therefore, that our relationship of 
indifference toward the struggling Cubans, or which is the 
same thing, of favoritism toward Spain, must sooner or 
later give way to something more pronounced. Should 
that something be recognition of belligerent rights ? It 
might well be such, argue those who are satisfied with the 
facts heretofore stated. Cuban belligerency was withheld 
during the ten years' struggle from 1868 to 1878. In this 
resjiect the United States did not copy Spain's haste to 
recognize the belligerency of the rebellious States of the 
Union, at a time within sixty days of the firing on Fort 
Sumter, and before word of an}- other combat of arms had 
reached her. The Cuban insuriection of 1895 went on a 
year, with the establishment of a government, with bat- 
tles fought and victories won, with the island conquered 
except as to its port towns. Here then was a condition 
far more fully justifying a recognition of belligerency by 
the United States, than what Spain found in this country 
when she recognized the war status of the South in 1861. 

Belligerency is at most a question of fact. It is not, 
and has never been, regarded by nations as an occasion for 
war. As a fact it is one wholly within the breasts of the 
nations asking and granting it. If the fact is clearly es- 
tablished, the granting nation may proclaim its determina- 
tion, without right of question by any third nation. 



412 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

A different policy was adopted by the United States 
during the Cuban insurrection of 1868-78. It was tlie 
policy of good offices toward the contending parties, 
looking toward Cuban independence, and even going so 
far as an offer to purchase of Spain the independence of 
the island. Many of our leading statesmen favored it 
among them, even such as were coldl}^ disposed toward 
Cuba on account of the existence of the negro slavery on 
her soil. This policy became that of the Grant adminis- 
tration, but it was so distasteful to Spain as to seemingly 
aggravate her cruel dealings with the insurgents, and to 
require something stronger on the part of President Grant, 
for, in 1876, his Secretary of State was forced to write that 
unless the insurrection in Cuba was S23eedily suppressed 
the United States would be comi^elled to intervene. 

The overwhelmning vote of sympathy, in both houses of 
the Fifty fourth Congress, in favor of the Cuban patriots, 
brought about a strong contrast with the course of Presi- 
dent Cleveland. It was alleged that his attitude v/as not 
one of indifference toward the contestants but of actual 
favoritism toward Spain, in that he had gone bej'ond his 
duty of preserving neutrality. Though it had been 
decided in our highest judicial tribunals, that vessels 
carrying war munitions and unarmed men were not illegiti- 
mately engaged, the President ordered the seizure of 
several such, only to find that they were released by the 
courts. His undertaking to police the seas beyond the 
three mile limit and to arrest vessels suspected of violat- 
ing the neutrality laws, was equally repudiated by the 
judicial tribunals. Only in a single instance was his 
course sustained, and that was where the arms and 
soldiers were found aboard together, the former actually 



UUK CUHAN RELATIONS. 413 

ill tlie latter's Ihiiuls, and where the evidence was that sucli 
union had been phmned on the soil of the United States. 

Among tlie pecuniary or material reasons for change in 
our Cuban relations, may well be mentioned the ruin of 
American propert}' of immense value in Cuba, the de- 
struction of a large commerce with the island, the shut- 
ting out of American enterprise from a wide and desirable 
field. Add to these the importance of removing a con- 
tinuous threat upon our commercial and political well 
being contained in the possession of an island lying so 
near our coasts by a foreign and monarchical government, 
and one ma}' find good reason for the opinion of Charles 
Sumner in 1869 : 

"For myself I cannot doubt that in the interest of both 
parties, Cuba and Spain, and in the interest of humanity 
also, the contest should be closed. This is my judgment 
on the facts, so far as known to me. Cuba must be saved 
from its bloody delirium, or little will be left for the final 
eonquerer. Nor can the enlightened mind fail to see that 
• the Spanish power on this island is an anachronism. The 
day of European colonies has passed — at least in this hem- 
isphere, where the rights of man were first proclaimed and 
self-government first established." , 

But what really makes a change in our Cuban relations 
necessarily rests on that high ground taken by ]Mr. 
Lodge in the Forum : 

"Such a war as is now being waged in Cuba — unre- 
strained by any of the laws of civilized warfare and 
marked by massacre and ferocious reprisals at ever step — 
is a disgrace to civilization. It is as useless as it is brutal. 
Spain is in truth "an anachronism " in the Western Hemis- 
phere. It is impossi])le tliat she should long retain even 
this last foothold. Spanish-American Governments have 



414 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

no doubt fallen far short of the standards of 
the English speaking race, but they have been 
an immense improvement in the stupid and cruel mis- 
government of Spain. It is no argument to say that, the 
Spanish- American Governments are not up to our standard, 
the Cubans should be compelled to remain crushed 
beneath the misgovernment of Spain, — especially when 
we remember that, although there are many negroes and 
mulattoes in Cuba, the whites are whites of pure race and 
not mixed with Indian blood as on the continent. 

"This is a world of comparative progress, and freedom 
from Spain would be to Cuba a long step in advance on 
the highroad of advancing civilization. The interests of 
humanity are the controlling reasons which demand the 
beneficient interposition of the United States to bring to 
an end this savage war and give to the island peace and 
independence. No great nation can escape its responsi- 
bilities. We freely charge England with responsibility for 
tlie liideous atrocities in Armenia. But it is the merest 
cant to do this if we shirk our own duty. We have a 
responsibility with regard to Cuba. We cannot evade it 
and, if we seek to do so, sooner or later we shall pay the 
penalty. But the American people, whose sympathies are 
strongly with the Cubans fighting for their liberties, will 
no longer suffer this indifference toward them to continue. 
If one administration declines to meet our national respon- 
sibilities as they should be met, there will be put in power 
another administratit)n which will neither neglect nor shun 
its plain duty to the United States and to the cause of 
freedom and humanity." 

A Second View. 
It must not be supposed that those who favor strict 




John W. Daniki,. 

Born at Lyiicliburg, Sept. o, 1842; educated at Lyiiclibuig (."ollege 
and Harrison University; served in Confederate Army; Adjutant of 
Early's Staff ; studied law at University of Va. ; member of House of 
Delegates, 18H9-70, 1871-72; member of Senate, lS7o-81 ; Tilden 
Elector, 187(i; member (jf Dein. Nat. Con., 1880, 1888; defeatetl for 
Governor in 1881; member of 49ih Congress; elected to U. S. Senate 
and took seat March 4, 1887 ; re-elected Dec, 1891 ; member of Coni- 
miitees on Foreign Relations, Appropriations, Judiciary, Public BuildiiK^s 
and Grounds, and Revision of Laws. 




Hon. David B. Culberson. 

Born in Troup co., Ga., September 29,1830; educated at Brown- 
wood ; studied law and moved to Texas, 1856; elected to State Legis- 
lature, 1859; served in Confederate army throughout war; elected to 
Slate Legislature, 1864; elected, as a Democrat, to 44th, 45th, 46th, 
47th, 48lh, 49th, 50th, 51st and 52d Congresses, to represent Fourth 
Texas District, composed of eleven counties ; an earnest and popular 
member, admired by a large constituency ; active on the floor as debater 
and parliamentarian ; Chairman of the Judiciary Committee. 



II 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 417 

neutralitj' as to Spain and indifference on the part of the 
United States, are any the less impressed witli the impor- 
tance of the situation, whether regarded in a political or 
commercial light. They do not necessarily lack sjnnpathy 
with the efforts of the patriots to secure the blessing of 
free institutions for themselves, nor do they close their 
eyes to the righteousness of a struggle occasioned by long 
years of harsh taxation, treacherous dealings and cruel 
oppression. 

They see with all others the three great causes that 
have contributed to make the Cuban question one of 
peculiar interest to the United States, to wit: Sympathy 
Mith the idea of Cuban independence, the tyranny of 
Spanish rule, desire of annexation to the United States. 
But the}' see also, and make it conspicuous, the supreme 
duty of the United States to sedulously maintain its 
neutrality laws, and to take no risks by a change of its 
relations with a friendlj^ government. These have studied 
faithfully the histories of Cuban struggles, and their 
judgments cannot be ignored in making up the national 
verdict respecting the attitude to be assumed by the 
United States. 

They sustain the President in his proclamation of June 
12, 1895, calling attention to the prohibition of our neu- 
trality laws, and warning all persons against breaking 
them. They find support for their views in the statement 
in the President's annual message of December 2, 1895, to 
the effect that : 

" The traditional sympathy of our countrymen as in- 
dividuals with a people who seem to be struggling for a 
larger autonomy and greater freedom, deepened as such 
S3-mpathy naturally must be in behalf of our neighbors, 
Jet the plain duty of their Government is to observe in 
24 



418 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

good faith the recognized obligations of international re- 
lationship." 

When the Congress passed its resolution expressing the 
opinion that the Cubans should be granted belligerent 
rights, with such great unanimity, it was seen that such 
action, if not directly, at least by implication, was equiva- 
lent to saying to the public that the judgment of the 
President was erroneous and should be reversed. This 
opened inquiry as to the power of the President in the 
premises. It was conceded, after but little discussion, 
that the question of belligerency was one wholly in the 
hands of the President, as the person charged by the 
Constitution with the conduct of our foreign relations. 
It was equally agreed that belligerency, like independ- 
ence, was one of fact, in the determination of which 
neutral governments do not necessarily consider the ques- 
tion of right between the contending parties. Tliis rule 
w-as announced to the Texas envoy in 1837, and was 
found to have been repeated before and since. The actual 
state of hostilities and not the merits of a controversy is 
the guide for neutrals in entering on the path of inter- 
vention. 

Assuming that the President and the Congress had ac- 
cess to the same sources of information respecting hostili- 
ties in Cuba, or had equally reliable information, the 
whole question became one of relying upon or construing 
such information. And here what may be called an his- 
toric view of tlie Cuban cause assumed shades to suit the 
friends and opponents of belligerency. We have, in 
former pages, traced this history from the standpoint of 
those who found in it sufficient to warrant a change in 
our Cuban relations. We must also trace it from tlie stand- 
point of those who opposed a change of such relations. 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 4l9 

According to these latter, the Cuban uprising, begin- 
ning in February, 1895, in the provinces of Santiago de 
Cuba and Matanzas, embraced only the banditti element 
of the mountains, and included none of the political 
parties which represented the planting, industrial, com- 
mercial and professional interests of the island. It was 
an uprising of the laboring classes, chiefly plantation 
negroes, who had been goaded to desperation by low and 
uncertain wages, due to depression in the prices of sugar 
and tobacco, to excessive cost of provisions and clothing, 
and to the grinding modes of Spanish taxation. Tlie 
hope was that, like other and similar uprisings, tliis one 
would soon exhaust itself, and that peace would be re- 
stored. 

But it was found that there was more back of it than 
was at first suspected. Gomez proved abler than former 
leaders, and he found valuable assistants in the two 
Maceos, Antonio and Jose, who, being mulattoes, easily 
persuaded the negroes to leave the cane fields and tobacco 
l)lantations and swell the ranks of the insurgents. The 
spirit of revolt soon spread among the whites, who were 
encouraged by the show of systematic effort on the part 
of leaders. Organizations ripened, and a plan of cam- 
l)aign was agreed upon admirably calculated to inflame 
insurrection and augment the insurgent forces. Battles 
with Spanish forces were avoided, but a series of brilliant 
marches was entered upon, where the track was marked b}' 
the destruction of plantations, crops, railroads, and all 
resources vital to tlie existing government. Thus, by 
sweeping from east to west, throughout the length of the 
island, the insurrection was given geographic extent, and 
became an object wliich attracted thousands to it. Con- 
tributions were levied on planters, and towns, fields, build- 



420 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

iiigs and machinery were clestrojed ; laborers were enlisted 
or, upon refusal, shot. Said Mr. Williams, our Consul- 
General at Havana: 

" Besides the burning of cane fields, the newspapers re- 
port cases of damage to railroads by displacing rails, the 
blowing up of culverts, burning of bridges and stations; 
also, the pillaging of country stores, the carrying off of 
horses, saddles, and bridles from farms on their line of 
march for the mounting of men, and the slaughter of 
cattle for food. . . . The insurgents appear, while 
carrying on their work of destruction of private property, 
to have been able, thus far, to elude all encounter with 
the government troops." 

From this state of affairs, it was argued that even if 
there was a Cuban war in progress, as the friends of 
Cuban freedom claimed, it could not be dignified b}^ the 
name of regular warfare, but possessed only the character- 
istics of guerrilla warfare, and therefore presented none 
of the conditions which would warrant a grant of bellig- 
erent rights by a nation which professed to follow strictly 
neutral lines. Wars vary in kind and degree, and do not 
become public wars merely by the exclusion of right 
authority from a portion of its domain, nor by the setting 
up of a rebellious government inside of said domain. A 
fine line was drawn between a "public war" and ''civil 
war," and before the latter could become the former, the 
insurgents must have risen to the dignity of a political 
power, with cohering principles, a certain degree of in- 
dependence, definite geographic limits, and some com- 
munity of population, interest and destiny. Till tlie latter 
became the former there could be no proper grant of bellig- 
erent rights, for only a "public war" warranted such a 
giant. 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 421 

This piinciple of law, the resolution passed by the Con- 
gress seeniingl}- conceded, for the language of the resolu- 
tion was, "in the opinion of Congress, a, public war exists 
between tiie Government of Spain and the Government 
proclaimed and for some time maintained by force of arms 
by the people of Cuba." But there was a stout denial by 
opponents of belligerency that, as factsstood, the insurgents 
were in any sense "the people of Cuba,"or that they were 
" maintaining a Government." 

Again it ^\■as argued that there was no emergency, either 
actual or innninent, in connection with the Cuban question 
which made it incumbent on neutral powers to define their 
relation to the conflict. As to the necessity of such 
emergency in such cases the principle of international 
law was invoked, that " so long as a Government is strug- 
gling with insurgents isolated in the midst of loyal prov- 
inces and consequently removed from contact with foreign 
States, the interests of the latter are rarely touched, and 
probably are never touched in such a way that they can be 
served b}-- re ognition. In case of maritime war the as- 
sumption of propriety lies in the opposite direction. To 
the legal concession of belligerency two conditions ai-e es- 
sential ; first, the struggle shall have attained the dimen- 
sions of war in the international sense ; second, there 
must be a necessity for the recognition. A recognition by 
a foreign State of full belligerent rights, if not justified by 
necessity, is a gratuitous demonstration of moral support 
to the rebellion, and of censure upon the parent Govern- 
ment." 

The Government of the United States had adhered to 
these principles during the insurrections in the Spanish- 
American colonies in 1810-15, and only departed from 
them in the latter year, by a grant of belligerent rights, 



422 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

after the appearance of vessels bearing the flags of the in- 
surrectionary governments appeared in our ports. During 
the Cuban insurrection of 1868-78, President Grant, in 
his message of June 13, 1870, gave the following reason 
for his refusal to recognize the Cuban insurgents as bellig- 
erents, and these reasons were the more quoted and urged 
by opponents of belligerency in 1896, because, in 1869, 
Cespedes, the then President of the Cuban Republic, had 
declared in an address to President Grant, that he had an 
army of 10,000 men, which occupied three-fourths of the 
island and that a navy was in process of construction. It 
would seem also as if the new government were actually 
further on in 1869 than in 1896, for it had been recognized 
as independent by Peru, and as a belligerent by Chile, 
Bolivia and Mexico. It had also sent a duly accredited 
minister to the United States, and liad oiganized a govern- 
ment at a stated capital, had passed laws, issued money, 
and done what regular governments are authorized to do. 

President Grant evidently regarded the above state- 
ments respecting the Cuban situation as exaggerated, for 
in his message he said : 

" The question of belligerency is one of fact, not to be 
decided by sympathies with or prejudices against either 
party. The relations between the parent state and the in- 
surgents must amount, in fact, to war in the sense of in- 
ternational law. Fighting, though fierce and protracted, 
does not alone constitute M'ar ; there must be military 
forces acting in accordance with the rules and customs of 
war — flags of truce,. cartels, exchange of prisoners, etc., — 
and to justify a recognition of belligerency there must be, 
above all, a de facto political organization of the insurgents 
sufficient in character and resources to constitute it, if left 
to itself, a State among nations capable of discharging the 



OUIi CL'JiAN RELATIONS. 423 

duties of a State, and of meeting the just responsibilities 
it may incur as such toward other powers in the discharge 
of its national duties. 

"Applying the best information whicli I have been en- 
abled to gather, whether from official or unofiicial sources, 
including the \evy exaggerated statements whicli each 
party gives of all that may prejudice the opposite or give 
credit to its own side of the question, I am unable to see, 
in the j)resent condition of the contest in Cuba, those ele- 
ments which are requisite to constitute war in the sense of 
international law. 

"The insurgents hold no town or city; have no estab- 
lished seat of govern mont ; they have no pi'ize courts; no 
organization for the receiving and collecting of revenue; 
no seaport to which a prize may be carried, or through 
which access can be had by a foreign power to the limited in- 
terior territory and mountain fastnesses which they occupy. 
The existence of a legislature representing any popular 
constituency is more than doubtful. 

"In the uncertainty that hangs around the entire insur- 
rection there is no palpable evidence of an election, of any 
delegated authority, or of aii}^ government outside the 
limits of the camps occupied from day to day by the rov- 
ing companies of insurgent troops. There is no commerce; 
no trade, eitlier internal or foreign ; no manufactures." 

Again in his message of December 7, 1875, he declared 
tliat the United States should carefully avoid the " false 
lights which might lead it into mazes of doubtful law and 
of questionable propriety, and adhere rigidly and sternly 
to the rule which lias been its guide of doing only that 
which is right and honest and of good report"; and, ad- 
verting to the fact that the conflict still continued to be 
on land, and that the insurrection had no seaport whence 



424 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

it might send forth its flag, "nor any means of communi- 
cation with foreign powers except through the military 
lines of its adversaries," he pointed out that no apprehen- 
sion of any of the sudden and difficult complications 
which a war upon the ocean was apt to precipitate called 
for a definition by foreign powers of their relation to the 
conflict. 

As is well known, there was much excitement in this 
country over the attitude assumed by President Grant, 
and in a sudden outburst of sympathy for the Cuban pa- 
triots Mr. Sherman introduced a resolution in the Senate 
in favor of recognizing the belligerency of Cuba, sustain- 
ing it with an able speech. The excitement gradually died 
out, and the President's course was seen to be right, in 
view of the fact that an old treaty of 1795 between this 
country and Spain was found to be in existence, which in 
case of belligerency would have given Spain an undoubted 
right to search suspected American vessels, a measure 
sure to provoke international complications and lead to war. 
The argument drawn from the fact that Spain had rec- 
ognized the belligerency of the Confederate States with- 
in sixty days from the firing on Fort Sumter, and with- 
out other knowledge of the real status of the rebellion, 
was met by the statement that long preceding that event, 
South Carolina had adopted an ordinance of secession, 
that by May, 1861, ten other States had followed, the 
, Constitution for the Confederate States was formed in 
February 1861, officers elected, and steps taken toward 
forming an army, that custom houses, forts, arsenals, and 
ports had been seized, that Sumter had been fired upon 
April 12, 1861 ; that President Lincoln had issued a proc- 
lamation for troops, that in April a blockade of the ports 
of the seceded States had been declared. The reasoning 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 425 

from this state of facts was, that a harge portion of the 
people of the United States were actually niaintainiiig a 
government, collecting customs at seaports, and exercising 
dominion over a vast extent of territory. That the P'ed- 
eral Government in calling out troops and declaring the 
blockade recognized the condition to be one of '' public 
war." That this condition was so accepted by the nations 
which granted belligerent riglits to the Confederates. In 
this connection they quoted the opinion of Judge Grier, 
of the United States Supreme Court, in the Prize Cases: 

" This greatest of civil wars was not gradually devel- 
oped by popular commotion, tumultuous assembles, or 
local unorganized insurrections. However long may have 
been its previous conception, it nevertheless sprang forth 
suddenly from the parent brain, a Minerva in tlie full 
panoply of war. . . . The proclamation of blockade is it- 
self official and conclusive evidence that a state of war 
existed which demanded and authorized a recourse to such 
a measure, under the circumstances peculiar to the case 
.... In organizing this rebellion, they have acted as 
States claiming to be sovereign over all persons and prop- 
erty within their respective limits, and asserting a right 
to absolve their citizens from their allegiance to the 
Fedeial Government. . . . Their right to do so is now 
being decided by wager of battle. The ports and terri- 
tory of each of these States are held in hostility to the 
General Government. It is no loose, unorganized insur- 
rection, having no defined boundary or possession. It has 
a boundaiy marked by lines of bayonets, and which can 
be crossed only by force, — south of this line is enemies' 
territory, because it is claimed and held in possession by 
an organized, hostile and belligerent power. " 

The final argumentof the opponents of Cuban belliger- 



426 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

ency was tliat it could be no possible benefit to the strug- 
gling patriots. It could in no wise alter their relations to 
Spain, who could still regard them as rebels worthy of 
death or banishment if she saw fit. On the contrary it 
might prove of great detriment to the Cuban cause, for if 
Spain chose to exercise her rights of search under the 
treaty of 1795, that would put an end to the transporta- 
tion of munitions of war for the insurgents. 

In the discussion in Congress upon the passage of the 
resolution advising the grant of belligerency, quite a 
sentiment cropped out in favor of direct intervention by 
the United States under certain conditions. One of the 
strongest exponents of this sentiment was Senator Mills, 
who proposed in his speech that if the Government of 
Spain should deny a request of the United States upon 
her to grant to Cubans the power of local self-government, 
then the United States should take possession of the 
island and hold it until its inhabitants can institute such 
government as they may wish, and organize and arm such 
forces as may be necessary to support it. 

As to the other means of dealing with the Cuban ques- 
tJQi-i — the purchase of the island outright by the United 
States, and its annexation as a State of the Union, it had 
never entered so fully into public discussion nor taken so 
serious a hold on pul)lic sentiment as in 1854, during a 
period of violent agitation in favor of annexation. Dur- 
ing that exciting period Mr. Buchanan, our Minister at 
London, Mr. Mason, Minister at Paris, and Mr. Sould, 
Minister at Madrid, met at Ostend to consider the ques- 
tion of Cuban annexation. The result was a report to 
Wm. L. Mavcy, then Secretary of State, which became 
know as the " Ostend Manifesto. " It contained this ex- 
traordinarily bold and defiant language : 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 427 

" If Spain, deaf to the voice of her own interests;, and 
actuated by stubborn pride and a false sense of lionor, 
should refuse to sell Cuba to the United States, " the time 
would then have come for tlie United States to consider 
whether Cuba in the possession of Spain seriously endang- 
ered ' our internal peace and the existence of our cher- 
ished Union'; that, if this question should be answered in the 
affirmative, ' then, by ever}^ law, human and divine, we 
shall be justified in wresting it from Spain, if we possess 
the power'; and that we should be 'recreant to our duty 
— be unworthy of our gallant forefathers, and commit base 
treason against our posterity, should we pernnt Cuba to 
be Africanized and to become a second St. Domingo.'" 

This doctrime was as boldly repudiated, in the follow- 
ing year, by Secretary IMarcy. He said in reply to the 
report : 

"lam entirely opposed to getting up a war for tlie pur- 
pose of seizing Cuba ; but if the conduct of Spain should 
be such as to justify a war, I shoidd not hesitate to meet 
that state of things. The authorities of Cuba act unwisely, 
but not so much so as is represented. They are more 
alarmed than thev need to be in reerard to dantjers from this 
country, though it cannot be said that the filibuster spirit 
and movements do not furnish just grounds of a] pre- 
hension. They have a clear right to take measures for 
defence, but what those measures may be, it is not easy 
to define. In exercising their own rights they are bound 
to respect the rights of other nations. This they have 
not done in all cases. That they have deliberately in- 
tended to commit wrong against the United States I do not 
believe ; but that they have done so I do not deny. The 
conduct of Spain and the Cuban authorities has been ex- 
aggerated and even misrepresented in soine of our leading 



428 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

journals. I am not mucli surprised at the opinion for war, 
right or wrong: but I venture to assure you that such is 
not the policy of the Administration. It does not want 
war, would avoid it, but would not shrink from it, if it 
becomes necessary in the defence of our just riglits. 

" The robber doctrine, I abhor. If carried out it would 
degrade us in our own estimation and disgrace us in the 
eyes of the civilized world. Should the Administration 
commit the fatal folly of acting upon it, it could not hope 
to be sustained by the country, and would leave a tar- 
nished name to all future times. 

" Cuba would be a very desirable possession, if it came 
to us in the right way, but we cannot afford to get it by 
robbery or theft. I am for getting the island, if it can 
be acquired fairly and honestly, not otherwise. I do not 
believe tlie robber doctrine when calmly considered will 
be popular or that a party can sustain itself upon it. " 

Germs of War. 

Looking at the Cuban question from the standpoint of 
popular sentiment in Spain, it is an incendiary question 
which, without the greatest caution on the part or Span- 
ish rulers, is liable t© break out into consuming flame. 
When word reached Spain of tlie action of the American 
Congress, that country manifested the most violent indig- 
nation. The masses in populous towns rallied to war 
I cries against the United States, and necessitated the use 
of armed troops to protect tlie person and property of 
American representatives and citizens. All orders of citi- 
zens, outside of tliose directly responsible for peace, threw 
themselves into a war frenzy, and ridiculous threats were 
made of an immediate invasion and conquest of the United 
States. 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 429 

While this blood thirst}^ iiuligiiation was slowly speiuling 
itself, the action of the Spanish authorities in Cuba served 
to kindle indignant fires in the United States. A vessel, 
called tlie Competitor, was siezcd while engaged in trying 
to land war munitions for the insurgents. Her crew were 
summarily tried by court-martial and sentenced to pay 
the death penalty. The trial was a sheer mockery, in that 
the accused were denied time for pre[)aration and counsel 
of their own choosing. Among them was an American- 
citizen, who was not a part of the crew, but who was seeking 
to enter the island as a newspaper correspondent. This 
action of the authorites was so hasty and in such accord 
with the charges of cruelty to wliich they had already 
thrown tliemselves open, that word of it incensed our 
people and spurred our Government to the point of inter- 
vention. 

Fortunately the finding of the court-martial had to be 
certified to the home government for ap[)roval before it 
could be executed. It was met there by an American 
l)nitest, whose form was not made public. That one made 
twenty-three years before in the celebrated Virginius 
affair, by Secretary Fish, at the instance of President 
Grant, read thus: 

" In case of refusal of satisfactory reparation within 
twelve days from this date, you will, at the expiration of 
that time close your legation, and will, together with your 
secretar}', leave madrid, bringing with you the archives 
of the legation. You may leave the printed documents 
constituting the library in charge of the legation of some 
friendly power whicli you may select, who will take charge 
of them." 

At any rate it served to call Spain to her senses, and to 
postpone the approval of what would liave been the mur- 



430 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

der of an American citizen. It transpired, amid discussion 
of tlie merits of the case, that condemnation of the men 
on the charge of piracy and treason, and by so savage a 
court as a court-martial, was clearly illegal. None of 
the elements of piracy were found in the case of the Com- 
petitor. She was engaged in filibustering, or in a military 
expedition, which is not piracy. Piracy is a crime com- 
mitted on the high seas. Its object is plunder by attack 
upon vessels that come in its way. A pirate is an enemy 
of the human race. International law so adjudges her. 
But nut so an insurgent vessel, carrying arms to friends, 
with no intent to depredate in the open seas, and without 
puwer to do so. 

Nor was the crime treason, for that is the crime of a 
subject against his sovereign. The crew of the Competi- 
tor were not Spanish subjects. One was an American. 

In the case of Aaron Burr, charged with treason, against 
our Government, Justice Marshall held that treason was 
not proven, although Burr had planned a rebellion, organ- 
ized men, or was about to, and had actually purchased 
arms and ammunition as well as a ship for his enterprise. 
Nor did he sink his ship and destroy the arms until he 
learned tliat he was to be arrested on the charge of trea- 
son. Of course it would be impossible for an American to 
commit an act of treason against Spain or any other for- 
eign power. 

It further transpired that the American on board the 
Competitor was wrongly tried by court-martial, it being 
stipulated by the Cushing Treaty of 1821 between Spain and 
the United States that " No citizen of the United States in 
Spain, her adjacent islands, or her ultramarine possessions, 
charged with acts of sedition, treason or conspiracy against 
the institutions, the public security, the integrity of the 



OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 431 

territory, or against the Siqireme Government, or any- 
other crime whatsoever, sliall be subject to trial by excep- 
tional tribunal, but exclusively by the ordinary jurisdiction, 
except ill the case of being captured with arms in hand." 

Now, the purpose of treaties is to define clearly and 
definitely matters between certain nations. Treaties out 
rank iuternational law. The latter is strictly a general 
agreement on general matters between the principal na- 
tions of the world. A treaty, however, is made that the 
understanding between the parties to it may be explicit. 
Therefore, in the case of tlie Gushing Treaty there is but 
one construction to be placed upon the plnase, "■ captured 
with arms in hand." The prisoners must have been in 
actual possession of arms —have had arms in their hands 
— to come under the provision of the treaty, which per- 
mits them to be tried by court-martial. 

The third section of the treaty says that " those who 
may be taken with arms in hand," and who are therefore 
comprehended in the exception of the first article, shall 
be tried by ordinary council of war in conformity with 
the second article of the hereinbefore mentioned law; but 
even in this case the accused should enjoy for their defense 
the guarantees in the aforesaid law of April 17, 1821. 

Pending the solution of this delicate case of the Com- 
petitor, a solution which involved the higher question of 
peace or war between the two anxious and excited coun- 
tries, the Cuban problem worked its way largely into tlie 
politics of the national campaign of 189G. Ifc brought 
the Congress nearly to the verge of passinga joint resolu- 
tion in favor of belligerency, in order to compel President 
Cleveland to show where he stood by signing or vetoing 
it. ^Nlan}' State Conventions of both parties passed reso- 
lutions of sympathy with tlic struggling Cubans, and as 



432 OUR CUBAN RELATIONS. 

time progressed it became almost certain that neither the 
Republican nor Democratic parties could refuse to insert 
a plank in their national platforms in favor of Cuban 
belligerency. The time seemed to be already at hand, or 
within near arrival, when tension grew full of threatening 
if not lamentable incidents ; when it would be necessary 
to inform Spain that indefinite riot and rapine could not 
be permitted to continue in Cuba, and that if she could 
not restore peace in the fertile island this country must. 
Should she resent this attitude, there would be no distinc- 
tion of political party in this country, and no difference 
of opinion in the universal determination to meet all the 
responsibilities of such a situation, created not by the 
United States but by Spain. 




ESBBSi&i^SaBi 

IliiN. John SiiKiniAN. 

Born at Lancaster. Ohio, May 10, 1823; academically educated; 
studied law and adniiiled to bar, May 11, 1844; delegate to Whig Na- 
tional Coventions, 1848 and 1852; President of first Republican in Ohio, 
1855; elected to 34th, 35th, 36lh and 37ih Congresses; elected, as Re- 
jniblican, to I'nited States Senate, March, 1861 ; re-elected to same, 
1866 and 1872; appointed Secretary of Treasury, by President Hayes, 
March, 1877, and served til! March 3, 1881 ; distinguished for advocacy 
of resumption and success in refunding United States debt; re-elected 
to Senate for term beginning March 4, 1881, and again in 188r. and 
1892; Chairman of Comm.ttee on Foreign Relations and member of 
Committees on Finance, etc. 




w ij.i.i.A.Ni Mckinley. 



IJFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 



Birth and Education. 

The McKiiiley family, to ^vhich our illustrious subject 
belongs, was originally from the west of Scotland, but 
eventually found its way to the north of Ireland, as part 
of that important migration wliicli afterwards became so 
conspicuously known both in Europe and this country as 
Scotch-Irish. 

Two branches of the McKinley family migrated to 
America about the beginning of the last century. 
One branch settled in the South, and became founder of a 
long line of prominent and influential citizens. The 
other branch settled in the North, and presumably in 
York county, Pa.; at least one James ]\IcKinley, who was 
but twelve years old when his father came to this countr^^ 
was a resident of York in 1755, where a son was born to 
him, whom he named David McKinley. 

This David McKinley served as a private in the Revo- 
lutionary war, and was engaged in several important 
battles. After the war he moved to Westmoreland 
county, Pa., then to Mercer county. Pa., then to Colum- 
biana county, Ohio, and finally to Crawford county, 
where he died. He married twice, the first time in 1780 
to Sarah Gray, and the second to Eleanor McCkan. He 
had no children by his second wife, but by iiis first he had 

(435) 



i36 LIFE OF WILLIAM M<KINLEY. 

four sons and several daughters, all of whom were born in 
Pennsylvania, in Westmoreland or Mercer counties. He 
died, August 8, 1840, in Crawford county, Ohio. 

His second son, James McKinley, and great-grand- 
father of our subject, was bora September 19, 1783, and 
resided in Mercer county, Pa., where he married Mar}' 
Rose, who was of English extraction. Her father was an 
iron founder, and he, too, was a soldier in the Revolution- 
ary war. James McKinley moved to New Lisbon, Ohio, in 
1809, taking along with him his son, William McKinley, 
then but a year and a-half old, and born November 15, 
1807. There were born to James McKinley, thirteen 
children, eleven of whom were born in New Lisbon, The 
oldest son was the above mentioned William McKinley, 
father of our subject. 

He early became associated with the iron business, and 
erected, both for himself and in association with others, 
several foundries and furnaces in Ohio, moving in j^nrsuit 
of his business from New Lisbon to Niles, tlience to Po- 
land, and thence to Canton, where he died in 1892. He 
married Nancy Campbell Allison, in 1827. She was a 
descendant of an English family, that had first settled in 
Virginia, then moved to Greene county, Pa., and finally 
to New Lisbon. 

From this union sprang William McKinley, the subject 
of our biography, distinguished alike for his higli place in 
American political history, and as the recipient of an 
homage accorded to but few statesmen. He was born at 
Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, January 29, 1843. His 
father was tlien a resident of Niles, and manager of an 
iron furnace there. Wliile the younger William and his 
sisters were mere children, the father and mother moved 
to Poland, in Mahoning county, a village in the centre of 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M- KIN LEY. 437 

a flourishing agricultural and mining section. This move 
was made both for business and educational reasons, tlie 
place being soniewliat noted for its academy. 

In this busy but unostentatious village, the _younger 
McKinley began his school career. It was at first the 
usual tame submission to tlie routine of the public 
schools, and then a loftier and pleasanter walk in the 
portals of tlie academy. The pupil was ever obedient 
and progressive. He labored hard during the school ses- 
sions to improve his opportunities, and during vacations 
he did not hesitate to follow the custom of the times by 
earning pocket and book money on his own account. As 
he progressed with his studies, he filled in his leisure with 
odd clerical jobs, and taught a term of public school in a 
district contiguous to Poland, thus contributing mater- 
ially to the expense of his academic education, as well as 
to the development of his intellectual organization and 
powers of self-control. 

As a bo}'" and pupil, young McKinley gave evidence of 
many of those qualities which in their maturity character- 
ized his public life. PI is industry and perseverance were 
earnests of that assiduity and persistency which after- 
wards enabled him to meet and conquer tlie hard prob- 
lems of legislation and statescraft. His youthful love of 
fun, exercise and athletics gave assurance of sturdy phys- 
ical power, equal to the hardest strains of the battlefield or 
the severest exactions of the political campaign or com- 
mittee room. In his youthful candor and generosity of 
spirit, were tlie germs of that social elegance and pleasing 
political address admired as much by those who opposed 
as those who favored his views. In his boyish democ- 
racy were the seeds of that philanthropy which would 
bring the beneficences of economic legislation down to 



438 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

the looms and the furnace hearths, and into the domestic 
lives of the toiling masses. In the brightness and ac- 
quisitiveness of his youthful intellect, we see that future 
mastery of our industrial status, and that successful ap[)li- 
cation of remedial laws which have borne such relishable 
fruits and have left him without a peer in popular affec- 
tion. In that young faithfulness to family, in obedience, 
in all that reflected a noble mother's assiduous training, 
have been found that exalted moral life, noble integrity 
of purpose, severe adherence to the codes of honor that 
regulate our business and political estates. In short, the 
boyish and educational estate of \yilliam McKinley presaged 
the coming man with far greater accuracy than is common, 
even with those who have the greatest reason to appreciate 
the stern lessons of early years. 

He left the Academy at Poland when seventeen years 
of age, and entered Allegheny College. But his career 
here was brief, owing to sickness. On his return to Po- 
land he again taught public school for a time, and also 
Bible class iu his Sunday school, he being then a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. 

Army Career. 

A youth of McKinley 's patriotism could not, of course, 
resist the high call to duty which came with the breaking 
out of the Civil war. Burning with desire to aid the 
cause of the Union, forgetting his unripe years and the 
sacrifices that one so young would have to make, he 
ioined the band of companions that went out from Po- 
land early in the war— June 11, 1861— and that after- 
wards became Company E, of the 23d Ohio Volunteers. 
He bore no commission, was honored by no title, but 



LIFE OF WIIJ.IAM Mi KIN LEY. 439 

marched as private in the ranks, impelled only by the 
sacredncss of his cause and that inward devotion to prin- 
ciple wIiIlIi actuated his entire military career. 

He was but a stripling of eighteen years, but as un- 
daunted as the volunteer of stronger mould and more 
mature years, in whose hands the musket was less un- 
wieldy, on whose back the knapsack was less a burden, 
whose limbs were stronger for fatiguing marcli, whose 
-vitality was hardier against camp exposure. Hardly had 
he found his way to headquarters before he attracted the 
attention of his su[)eriors, as one possessed of more than 
the usual qualities of a private soldier. He was ever 
attentive to duty, promptly in his place at every com- 
mand, fearless of danger and exposure, an inspiration to 
his fellow soldiers, and withal, gave evidence of an ability 
to originate and execute which bade fair to be of ines- 
timable value to those over him. 

His Colonel was W. S. Rosecrans who, being a 
West Pointer, proved to be a severe disciplinarian. If .AIc- 
Kinley and his comrades found their school of the regi- 
ment at first a hard one,, it was none the less useful, and 
the time would prove to be near when the advantages of 
discipline would become apparent. Stanle}' Matthews was 
the first Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, and Ruther- 
ford B. Haj'es, afterward, President Hayes, was its first 
major. Here was certainl}' distinguished company, and 
to win the favor of such men by rigid adherence to duty, 
and by show of superior ability was a matter of more than 
ordinary moment. 

The rendezvous of the regiment was Camp Chase, 
Columbus, Ohio. It had enlisted for the three months' serv- 
ice. On its arrival at camp, the State quota for three 
months' men was found to be full. But orders for three 



440 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

years' men had already been issued from Washington, 
and the 23d Ohio was asked to change the term of its en- 
listment. A great majoiity of them, including McKinley 
did so, and thus the regiment which had heen third to en- 
list of the three months' men, became the first to enlist of 
the three years' men. 

The regiment continued to drill at Camp Chase during 
July, 1861. Owing to the promotion of General Rose- 
crans, E. P. Scammon became its Colonel. It was now 
ripe for the field, and was waiting at Clarksburg, W. 
Va., a mountainous, remote, difficult section infested by 
guerrillas. Here the regiment was not likely to meet an 
enemy in pitched battle, but a secret foe, who kept it on al- 
most a continuous maich by night and day, over steep 
mountains, through dangerous defiles, drenched with rain 
today, shelterless and foodless to-morrow, routing, chas- 
ing and scattering an adroit, swift and heartless enemy. 
The mountain incursion maj' not have called forth the 
highest fighting qualities of the regiment, but it was cer- 
tainly a sevei'e test of its powers of endurance, and an 
excellent foretaste of the real hardships of campaigning. 
The only engagement fcnight by the legiment that 
reached the magnitude of battle was that at Carnifex 
Ferry on September 10, 1861. This was a series of active 
skirmishes throughout the day, followed b}^ the stealing 
away of the enemy at night. 

These operations ended by a difficult march of the regi- 
ment to Camp Ewing on New river, which proved to be 
a very unhealthy spot, and where the ranks were greatly 
decimated by an outbreak of disease, owing to exposure 
and lack of proper food. In May, 1862, the regiment, 
now fully recruited and in good condition, left its camp, 
under the lead of I.<ieutenantColonel Hayes, and 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M'-KINLEY. 441 

niiirclied upon Princeton, W. Va. The enemy first 
evacuated the town, but afterwards returned. A sharp 
engagement followed, May 15, 1862, resulting in the de- 
feat of the Union forces. They retreated, however, in 
good order, but were afterward subjected to great hard- 
ship by the cutting off of their supplies. 

While in camp at Flat Rock, orders were received to 
march to Green Meadows and thence to Camp Piatt on 
the Great Kanawha, on the way eastward to reinforce 
McClellan's army, then about to confront the forces of 
Lee in Maryland. In three days, the regiment covered 
the very difficult distance of one hundred and four n)iles 
from Green INIeadows to Camp Piatt. The embarcation 
for Washington was speedy, and the arrival in Washington 
timely, for after a rest of a day or two, the regiment was 
on the march with McClellan toward Frederick City, iNId., 
to head off Lee's threat upon Washington and Balti- 
more. 

But now McKinley was no longer a private in the 
ranks. In recognition of those very executive qualities 
Colonel Hayes had discovered in him while at Camp Chase, 
he had secured his promotion to the important post of 
commissar}^ sergeant, April 15, 1862, ere they left the 
wilderness of West Virginia. Tliis brought him into a 
staff relation with his colonel, and thoy not onl}- became 
friends, but their intimacy proved to be deep and lasting. 
The preliminary battle of dieadful Antietam had now to 
be fought, September 14, 1862. !McKinley's regiment, 
still commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Haj-es, was at- 
tached to Cox's division, which was the division in the 
advance of McClellan's army. The battle opened b}' an 
attack of this advance upon the eneni}', strongly entrenched 
up the mountain side. A murderous fire at short range 



442 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

was opened on the leading Federal brigade, and in a few 
moments one-third of their number was stretched upon 
the field, Lieutenant-Colonel Hayes receiving a bad wound 
in the arm. On the arrival of reinforcements, the brigade 
charged up the hill and drove the enemy from his strong 
entrenchments at the point of the bayonet. During the 
balance of the day the regiment fought with its division, 
under the immediate command of General Cox, and in all 
I made three severe bayonet charges with success. The 
regimental losses for the day were nearly two hundred, 
one-fourth of whom were killed outright. 

Severe as this battle of South Mountain was, it was but 
a prelude to that of Antietam, for which both sides were 
now making the utmost preparation. This great battle 
was fought, September 17, 1862. It has passed into 
Mstory as the bloodiest single day of war during the re- 
bellion. McKinley's regiment fought at the right of the 
First Brigade of the Kanawha Division. It was called 
into battle before daylight and without breakfast. The 
entire division soon found its left and rear exposed 
to a terrific attack of the enemy from a corn field. Its 
colors of the 23d went down, to be hoisted again by 
Major Comly, on a new line facing the enemy, to which 
the entire regiment quickly conformed, and by a decisive 
fire forced the enemy to retire. The regiment, not re- 
ceiving the orders of the division to withdraw, held its po- 
sition till the arrival of a special order for it to fall to the 
rear. Notwithstanding the arduous and bloody duties of 
the day, the regiment spent the night in support of a 
battery, and found final relief only on the next afternoon. 
All through the angry fight of the 17th, Sergeant McKin- 
ley spared no exertion to relieve the men of his regiment 
of the pangs of hunger and thirst. He was in the midst 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M. KINI.EY. 443 

of the fires of conflict from rn(>riiiiig to iiiglit, serving witli 
his own hands the food and drink which the men had 
been deprived of by the early morning outburst of battle. 
It was this occasion of bravery and self-sacrifice under 
fire, and this incident of devotion and administrative 
abilit}', that earned for him the applause of his officers and 
companions. Word of it reached tlie Governor of his 
State, and recognition came back in the shape of a promo- 
tion to the Second Lieutenancy of Company D, September 
23, 1862. 

The relief which came to a dangerous military situation 
through the battle of Antietam, enabled McClellan to send 
McKinley's regiment once more to West Virginia, where 
its presence was much needed. It made a hasty journey 
westward and went into winter quarters on the Great 
Kanawha, after a inarch of six hundred miles during the 
3'ear, a campaign of sevei'e mountain service, and partic- 
ipation in two of the bloodiest episodes of the war. 
McKinley was promoted to be First Lieutenant of Com- 
pany E February 7th, 1863. 

During 1863, tlie regiment was engaged in the scouting 
duty incident to the occupation of West Virginia, but 
once it was called upon to participate in the movement 
which brought Morgan's raid to termination by the en- 
gagement at Buffington's island, Ohio. During tlie 
winter of 1863-64, it was in winter quarters at Charleston, 
West Virginia. 

In the spring of 1864, it marched to Brownstown on 
the Kanawha, where it became a part of the force of 
General Crook, who was then preparing for his celebrated 
raid on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. Tliis expe- 
dition differed but little in its dangers and liardships from 
the everyday West Virginia experience. It embraced 



444 LIFE OF WILLIAM M KIN LEY. 

toilful mountain marches, the threading of deep and dan- 
gerous ravines, exposure to frequent rainfalls, precarions 
supplies of food, repeated encounters with guerrillas, till 
on May 9, 1864, patience and effort culminated in the 
spirited battle of Cloyd's mountain. 

In this engagement the 23d Ohio occupied the right of 
the First Brigade which was face to face with an enemy 
strongly posted on the wooded steeps of the mountain, 
with an open meadow in front. A charge was ordered on 
the enemy's lines, amid a terrific fire of musketry and 
artillery. It was bravely made across the open space and 
up over the first line of entrenchments, the enemy retreat- 
ing to a second fortified line further up the mountain. A 
second charge up tlie steeps dislodged him from this line. 
Reinforced, a third stand was made, but nothing could 
now check the ardor of the Union troops. They rushed 
in hand to hand encounter upon the enemy's guns, and 
after an heroic struggle succeeded in capturing them, and 
thus accomplishing an important aim of tlie raid. This 
victory was followed by a series of active operations, in- 
volving the artillery duel at New Bridge, and the destruc- 
tion of the bridge ; the continuous battle march to Black- 
burgh, and the embarrassing crossing of Salt Pond moun- 
tains, owing to incessant rains, the wretched condition of 
the roads, and the flocking of "contrabands," whom pity 
could not leave to starvation, or perhaps a worse death. 

Crook's force was now within reach of that of Hunter, 
who had been ordered on a similar raid up the James 
liver. It was therefore ordered to join with Hunter, 
which it did at Lexington, Virginia. INIarcli was taken 
for Lynchburg, with the intent of attacking. Lee had 
sent heavy reinforcements from Richmond, and when the 
encounter came, the Union forces met with severe repulse. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 445 

At the time of the junction of Crook's forces with Hunter, 
they were in no condition for battle. They had been on 
ahnost incessant night and day marches for a long time, 
had scaled mountains and forded streams, had passed 
through repeated encounters, some of which rose to the 
dignity of battles, and had never had a sure supply of 
food. 

The fortunes of the 23d Ohio now for a time became 
those of Hunter to the north of Richmond and in the 
Shenandoah Valley. Or to speak more accurately, its 
fortune remained that of General Crook, for all of Hunter's 
infantry command had not yet arrived from the Kanawha 
valley. And this fortune was by no means a happy oire, 
for the enemy followed up his advantage at Lynchburg, 
and attacked the Union forces at Liberty, where a brisk 
battle occurred, resulting in a further Union retreat. 

On June 20, 18G4, the rear of the Union forces, con- 
sisting of Hayes' brigade, with Crook present, held Buford 
Gap against the enemy's advance, and then made a hasty 
night retreat for the van, supposed to be at Salem. But 
Hunter was not found at Salem. The enemy had attacked 
and cut off his trains, and had forced liim beyond the 
place. Crook's rear guard was in a manner surrounded, 
and it was only by rare strategy and brave fighting that 
lie extricated his command from this dilemma. 

This retreat before a superior force was kept up witliout 
opportunity for rest and with an insufficientsui)ply of food 
and ammunition till June 27th, when a safe spot was 
reached on Big Sewell Mountain. It had been a continu- 
ous figlit and march for nearl}'- 180 miles. It need not 
be recited here how General Early's successes in the 
Shenandoah Valley at this time emboldened liim to carry 
his invasion to the very front of Washington, and to 



440 LIFE OF WILLIAlVr Mt KINLEY. 

challenge a fight for the National Capital. It was all too 
plain that the Union forces under command of Hunter in 
the valley were unable to cope witli the augmented 
forces of Early. So Grant sent two corps from Rich- 
mond for the rescue of the Capital. 

Before these Early beat a retreat southward, carrying 
along a rich supply of stores and booty gleaned from the 
valley. He was pursued for atimeUy Hunter's connimnd, 
and had gotten as far as Strasburg in his retreat. Here he 
halted, and learning that he was no longer pursued, re- 
solved to return and fall upon Hunter's in detail. 

It had become the opinion of all that Lee had recalled 
to Richmond the reinforcements previousl}^ sent to Early. 
Hence Hunter felt comparatively secure, after seeing his 
enemy so far south as Strasburg. He had not only 
called off pursuit, but had posted his all too meagre forces 
at various strategic points in the valley. These were 
driven, somewhat in surprise, frt)m their positions, by 
Early's returning forces, and forced northward, in a line 
through Winchester, which General Crook held, with his 
rearguard of Hunter's army. Crook's command contained 
Hayes' brigade, in which was the Ohio, 23d Regiment. 

On July 24, 1864, Crook's command heard firing to the 
south of Winchester. He promptly marched his forces, 
numbering some 6,000 men, out some four miles in the di- 
rection of the firing, and to the village of Kernstown. 
Here he formed a line of battle with Hayes' brigade, 
numbering 1,700 men, on his left. Here it soon became 
manifest that Early was present in force, and that a 
severe struggle impended. 

Early pushed the attack with his greatl}^ superior force. 
It was an attack by centre and both flanks, and was suc- 
cessful on the centre. But Hayes' brigade kept the left 



LIFE OF WILLIAM Mc KINLKY. 



447 



stead}', and only retreated to Winchester, after the rest of 
the lines had been driven back in confnsion. In the fierce 
contention for his position thronghout the day, he had lost 
nearly a fourth of his command, a proportionate share of 
which fell to the Ohio Twenty-third. In the annals of 
this fierce encounter of Hunter's rear guard, an encounter 
which, though it brought not victor}', yet answered the 
purpose of checking for the time the career of an invading 
foe of superior numbers, occurr-ed one of the man}' episodes 
in young McKiidey's army the career, which served to show 
his heroism amid danger. At Winchester, General Mayes 
learned that one of his regiments had not been informed 
of the retreat of the brigade, and had been left in a position 
where it could hardly escape capture, being already nearly 
surrounded by the enemy. Pie ordered McKinley, then 
acting as his aide, to ride out and bring it in. It was 
seemingly a ride to the death, but, nothing daunted, the 
brave young officer executed the order, brought the regi- 
ment safely in, and received the congratulations of all for 
his perilous feat. 

After this battle of Kernstown, or as is more frequently 
written in the war histories, of Winchester, there was a 
confused period of evacuation by Crook's command and a 
hasty following up, as rear guard, of Hunter's forces to- 
ward Martinsburg. Many incidents of this retreat 
reflected great credit on young McKinley's military 
career. He was brave, sagacious, thoughtful, spirited, 
when all was perilous, confused and despondent, and moie 
than once the saving of men and guns from capture was 
due to his advice and personal heroism. 

Lieutenant McKinley wascommissioned Captain of Com- 
pany G. of his regiment, on July 25, 1864, the day after 
the Kernstown battle. Sheridan now came to the com- 



448 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

mand in the Shenandoah Valley. His forces embraced the 
two corps Grant had sent from Richmond, the two in- 
fantry divisions of Crook, and Averill's cavahy. These 
had been concentrated at Halltown in the valley. Early 
M'as forced to call together his scattered columns. Sheri- 
dan moved against him on August 10th, and pursued him 
toStrasburg, where he found him so strongly entrenched 
and greatly reinforced that he dare not attack. On the 
contrary, Early now began an offensive movement, deter- 
mined to crush Sheridan at Cedar Creek. But the latter 
was on the alert and retired to Berryville, leaving Early 
to concentrate at Winchester, now no longer the centre of 
a land of plenty. 

Now occurred a period of manoeuvering for position. 
At length Sheridan determined to attack Early in his po- 
sition on the Opequan, covering Winchester. He formed 
his line of battle with the Sixth and Nineteenth army 
corps in front, and Crook's divisions in reserve. The at- 
tack began on September 19, 1864. Sheridan's onset was 
fierce but was rolled back. It was followed by a counter- 
charge which broke Sheridan's centre. The broken lines 
were quickly reestablished. As the battle progressed it 
was found that the enemy's left was strongest. Crook was [ 
ordered to find the extreme of this left, strike its flank and 
rear and break it up, while Sheridan swung his own left 
in a half wheel to support him. Crook made his advance 
with great spirit, and the enemy was forced step by step 
from his position. Torbert's cavalry came to the aid of 
Crook and his gallant men, and soon Early's stubborn and 
strong left was in confusion. Sheridan was driving the 
centre hard witli the Sixth and Nineteenth corps. Wilson 
was ordered to push his cavalry to the left and gain the 
roads leading south from Winchester. He dashed to the 



LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 449 

right where Crook and Torbert were making such telling 
^nroads on the enemy's ranks, artd ordered a charge with 
all the troops that could be brought into position. In- 
fantry and cavalry now bore irresistibly on the enemy's 
wavering columns. Early trembled for the fate of his 
army, pressed as it was in front and by flank. His forces j 
could stand the strain no longer. They broke and fled 
over the spaces between the Opequan and Winchester and 
through the latter place. Night alone saved his forces 
from complete destruction. He lost 4,500 men, of whom 
2,500 were prisoners, and several guns. Sheridan lost 
4,500 men ; 500 killed, 3,500 \voundcd and 500 missing. 
Never was battle more decisive. It had becen fought with 
the precision of clockwork, and was the first in which in- 
fantry, artillery and cavalry had been used concurrently. 
The victory brought great honor to every participant, and 
electrified the country. 

Sheridan pushed his beaten foe vigorously, first to New- 
town, then to Fisher's Hill, then to Strasburg. Here 
Sheridan sent Crook's command to work its way secretly, 
under cover of the night, to Early's loft. Torbert was 
sent on a similar mission to the left. On September 22, 
Sheridan attacked with his Sixth and Nineteenth corps. I 
Suddenly Crook debouched frcmi his hiding place on the' 
enemy's flank and rear, and doubled up liis lines within his 
breastworks. Sheridan charged in front. The enemy 
fled in panic, leaving sixteen guns and 1,100 prisoners in 
Sheridan's hands. Agnin Sheridan pursued the routed 
enemy and drove him out of the valley. 

But the valley forces had not long to rest. Early was 
strongl}'^ reinforced from Richmond, by October 5th, and 
on the 6th, attacked Sheridan's advance at Harrisonburg, 
driving it back. Sheridan called together his forces at 



450 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

Cedar Creek, for he had learned that Longstreet had been 
sent from Richmond to Early's aid. At Cedar Creek 
Sheridan left his forces in apparent safety to go to Wasli- 
ington at the command of the President. Crook's com- 
mand here occupied a position to the left of the cavahy, 
which formed the extreme right. While Sheridan was ab- 
sent Early attacked in a roundabout and highly strate- 
gical way on October 19th. That portion of his attack, 
headed by Kershaw, fell on the Union left, where Crook 
was situated. The battle raged furiously here, but the 
force of the enemy's blow could not be resisted. Crook's 
lines were driven in, after a contest in which many on both 
sides lost their lives. General Hayes had his horse shot 
under him and narrowly escaped with his life. 

Cedar Creek Avas thus far a surprise for the Union 
forces. Except upon the left, it haidly reached the im- 
portance of a battle, for the right, finding its position un- 
tenable, and snuffing disaster if a 'general engagement en- 
sued, found its highest mission in securing lines for a safe re- 
treat. Yet the result was disastrous enough in loss of life, 
guns and munitions, to render the enemy jubilant and en- 
courage him to fresh attack. 

On the night of the 18th Sheridan slept at Winchester, 
on his return from Washington. On the morning of the 
19th the firing of heavy guns twenty miles away told him 
of battle at Cedar Creek. Then began his famous twenty 
miles ride with all its exciting incidents— its repeated 
shouts to "Face the other way boys!" "We are going 
back!" "We'll lick them yet!" " Back to duty boys!" 
as he met his retreating soldiers. Soon he is with his 
generals — Crook and all the rest — now in momentary 
conference, now issuing hasty orders, inspiring all by 
his presence, bringing order out of dire confusion. 

Sheridan found that Getty's division of the 6th corps, 





Hon. Matthew S. Quay. 

Born at Dillsburg, York co., Pa., September 30, 1833 ; graduated at 
fcffcrsoii Co'.'^ge, 1850; admitted to bar, 1854; elocted rrutlionotary of 
beaver co., 1856 and 1859; served in Union army as Colonel of 134tl> 
Pennsylvania Volunteers, and as Military State Agent at Washington, 
Assistant Commissary-General and Chief of Transportation; Military 
Secretary lo Governor of Penns)lvania, 1861-65; member of Legisla- 
ture, 1865-67; Secretary of Commonwealth, 1872-78; Chairman of 
Republican State Committee, 1878-79; Secretary of Commonwealth, 
1879-82; elected State Treasurer, 1885 ; elected United States Senator, 
as Republican, 1886, and again in 1893; Chairman of Republican 
National Committee during campaign of 1888; Chairman of Committee 
on Public Buildings and Grounds, and member of Committees on Appro- 
priations, Commerce and Epidemic Diseases ; prominent candidate for 
Presidential nominee in 1896. 




Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge. 

Born in Boston, Mass., May 12, 1850; graduated at Harvard, 1871 ; 
graduated from Harvard Law School, 1875 ; admitted to Suffolk bar, 
1876, but preferred literary pursuits ; served two terms in State Legisla- 
ture; elected, as a Republican, to 50th, 51st, 52d and 53d Congresses, to 
represent Sixth Massachusetts District ; elected to U. S. Senate, January 
17, 1893, to succeed Hon. Henry L. Dawes; resigned his seat in 
House and took that in Senate, March 4, 1893; chairman of Committee 
on Immigration, and member of other important Committees. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 453 

supported by Custer's and Merritt's Cavalry, occupied a 
position between the rapidly advancing enemy and his 
other corps. His quick topographic eye selected this line 
as his line of battle, for he saw tliat battle must be ioined 
at once in order to retrieve the disaster of the morning. 
He quietly closed his corps on that line, and not a mo- 
ment too soon, for already the attack was on, upon the 19th 
corps. It was bravely repintcd, and Early thought to fortify 
and merelj^ hold his own lines. At three P. M. Sheri- 
dan took the offensive, and attacked with his entire line, by a 
left flank movement, his cavalry ably supported him. For 
a time the battle went stubborn and bloody. Early was 
trying Sheridan's manoeuvre with his own left. It was 
charged upon by a force led by Sheridan in person, and 
partly detatohed from the main column. The charge grew 
more persistent and bloody. The Confederate left wav- 
ered and gave way. Early acklowledged the day lost by 
ordering a retreat. Then the confusion of the morning 
was transferred to the enemy's ranks. Thej'^ were rolled 
backward to the position of the moiniing on Cedar Ci'eek. 
At this point, Early lost control of his men, and retreat 
became a rout. Prisoners, guns, ammunition fell readily 
into the victor's hands. Roads were blocked with dis- 
carded booty and army paraphernalia. At Fisher's Hill, 
Early hoped to make a stand, but he found nothing there 
except the Union prisoners of the morning. Night alone 
saved his fleeing remnants from annihilation, and dark- 
ness found Early at New Market twenty miles away from 
Cedar Creek. Sheridan had not only brilliantly re-won 
the battle of Cedar Creek, but had recaptured all the guns 
taken in the morning and had added to them twenty-four 
of the enemy's pieces, 1,600 prisoners and three hundred 
wagons. 
36 



454 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

The momentous battle of Cedar Creek ended the cam- 
paign in the Shenandoah Valley. Early was recalled to 
Richmond. The President honored Sheridan with a 
aVIajor-General's commission, "For the personal gallantry, 
jnilitary skill and just confidence in the courage and 
gallantry of your troops." The Congress complimented 
him and his soldiers for their " series of victories in the 
Shenandoah Valley, and especially for their services at 
Cedar Creek ". 

In Sheridan's disposition of the forces left in the Valley, 
on his return to Richmond, the command to which the 
Twenty-third Ohio was attacked was ordered to Martins- 
burg. Their march thither was enlivened by casting the 
army vote for President in 1864. Tlie McKinley "boy 
soldier " had earned his manhood in the field along with 
other honors, and cast his first vote in that election, along 
with the older veterans. 

The battle of Cedar Creek therefore virtually ended 
the active military career of Captain McKinley, though 
he found much future service on staffs of both Generals 
Crook and Carroll. On March 13, 1865, he was brevetted 
major. In the spring of 1865 the Twenty -third Ohio was 
ordered to Camp Cumberland, where it was mustered out 
of service, July 26, 1865, closing a four year career of war 
with honor, leaving a host of brave comrades beneath tlie 
turf of the battlefields, returning home to receive the con- 
gratulations of loyal friends and to enter once more the 
occupations of peace. Tlie soldier boy of eighteen years 
was now a man of twenty-two. The private of 1861 was 
now a major. The education and aspirations of youth, had 
been supplemented by such an ex})erience in the cause of 
country as few could claim at his age, and such as would 
meet the most exalted purposes of after life. 



LIFL: Ub' WILLIAM M<-K1NLKV. 



455 



In PkivatI'] Iafe. 

On his return from the ariii}^ in July, 1865, and at tlie 
age (if twent3--t\vo years, Major jNIcKinley settled at 
I'oland. The problem before him was the choice tif a 
civic career. Both qualification and inclination pointed 
to a course of law. He accordingly entered tlie law office 
of Judge Glidden of Mahoning County, Ohio, where he 
grounded himself in the principles of law, and afterwards 
completed his course at the Albany Law School, in New 
York. 

He proved to be an apt and diligent student. Though 
liampered at times by paucity of means, he courageously 
fought his way toward the bar, and was admitted to that 
of Canton Count}^ in the early part of 1867. At this date 
he left his Poland .home, and entered on his professional 
career at Canton, the county seat, then a town of some 
6,000 inhabitants, mostly sturdy migrants from Pennsyl- 
vania, or their descendants. 

He began his career auspiciously, in that his industry 
and energv happily seconded an excellent preparation and 
a naturally forceful and ])ersuasive style of speech. He 
was painstaking in preparing a cause and elocpient in 
piesenting it. To these necessary attributes of the suc- 
cessful practitioner, he ndded a charming personal address. 
With this equipment and these qualities his success at the 
bar was marked. He not only won speed}' recognition 
among his fellow members but among the people. Before 
two years had transpired he was honored with the Re- 
publican nomination for District Attorney of his county. 
Though the county was largely Democratic, he at once 
took the stump and conducted so vigorous a campaign 
that, to the surprise of friend and foe, he was elected. 



456 LIFE OP WILLIAM M'KINLEY. 

He was renominated for the same office, but his political 
enemies were on the alert, and he was defeated, not, how- 
ever, without putting up a battle that proved him to be 
one of the ablest and most indefatigable of campaigners. In 
these, his preliminary contests, he laid the ground work 
of that fame which has ever since been his portion as one 
of the most captivating and convincing public speakers in 
the land. 

On January 25, 1871, he married Miss Ida Saxton, the 
accomplished daughter of James A. Saxton, a banker of 
Canton, and began housekeeping in the neat and com 
fortable home that has since become historic. They had 
two daughters, both of whom died young. The blow 
greatly affected jMr. McKinley's general health fur a time, 
and they went to live with Mr. McKinley's mother, till 
the time came for him to move to W;*shington as a mem- 
ber of Congress. 

In Congress. 

In 1876, Major McKinley entered the race for Congress 
in the Eighteenth Ohio District. There were several dis- 
tinguished competitors for the nomination in his party, 
some of whom were distinguished politicians and veteran 
campaigners. But the young man of thirty-three years 
carried off the honors of the iiominating convention, and, 
after one of his characteristic campaigns, he was elected 
to the Forty-fifth Congress by a handsome majority. He 
continued to be reelected to each succeeding Congress up 
to 1890. Though the Democrats, in 1878, tried to defeat 
him by a gerrymander of his district, making it Demo- 
cratic by 1,800 majority, he carried it by 1,800 majority. In 
1884, a similar gerrymander was tried, but McKinley still 
held his district by some 1,500 majority. It was only after 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M< KIN LEY. 457 

ii third ami more dt^sperate attempt, in 1890, to gej-ry- 
maiider liim out of his district, that his political enemies 
succeeded in their nefarious object. His home county, 
Stark, was thrown in with three overwhelmingly Demo- 
cratic counties, so as to make a sure Democratic majority 
of 3,000 in the district. Yet such was McKinley's hold 
on the affections of the people, and such the strengtli of 
his campaign, that he was beaten only by the beggardly 
majority of 363 votes, having polled 2,500 more votes in 
his district than had been cast for Harrison in 1888. 

In Congress, jNIajor McKiidey was to do far more than 
repeat his brilliant success at the bar. He was in a field 
more to his liking and one fuller of opportunit}' for the 
development and application of endowments leading to 
the highest plains of statesmanship. He entered public 
life with the ardor of a youthful, ambitious nature, with a 
large fund of information, especially upon economic prob- 
lems, with painstaking industry, with unswerving fidelity 
to political conviction, with commanding address, with far 
more than usual parliamentary and diplomatic tact, with a 
demeanor and philosophy that attracted instant notice 
and rendered his counsels pleasing and desirable. 

It was but natural that one thus equipped for public life 
should soon begin to make his mark. He grew daily in 
popularity among the members, and in respect and strength 
among his party associates. His assignment to various im- 
portant committees, all of which were of the working kind, 
tested thorouglily tlie ai)preciation of his ability and sup- 
plied opportunities for the exercise of that usefulness he 
exemplified from the very beginning of his public career. 
At first his growth in favor was rather through the chan- 
nels of committee work, with its arduous details, than 
through those of open debate. But this was all the better 



458 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 

as a ground work for solid reputation, and as a preparation 
for that liigher statesmanship in whose midst he was soon . 
to stand so conspicuously forth. 

It must not be thought, however, that he neglected fo- 
rensic opportunit}'. Indeed his reputation as a keen, clear 
and powerful debater preceded liis entry to Congress, and 
the distinction that awaited him, in this respect, came 
naturally and expectedly. His interest in public ques- 
tions, his wonderful power in the marshalling of facts, his 
forceful, impressive logic, his fascinating rhetoric, his fair- 
ness to opponents, his freedom fiom excitement and bitter- 
ness, his readiness and keenness in repartee, very soon, and 
of their own momentum, carried him to a front place in the 
rank of skilled debaters. He never rose to speak witli- 
out an occasion, nor did he ever speak idly nor without 
full knowledge of his subject. What he touched upon 
he both ornamented and exhausted. His earnestness be- 
spoke depth and honesty of conviction. His warmth in- 
spired enthusiasm. He charmed by lucidity of thought 
and clear cut expression. His political foes heard with the 
same interest and delight as his friends. 

McKinley found a place on the Committee of Ways and 
Means, on entering Congress. This was to be the avenue 
to that high pedestal of protection he would soon occupy. 
" Pig Iron " Kelly was his sponsor in these early days of 
his career. Afterwards Garfield was chairman, an eco- 
nomic tutor as brilliant, if less sturdy, than his predeces- 
sor. jMcKinley came to the exalted honors and grave re- 
sponsibilities of the chairmanship under a tutelage whose 
ability was everywhere recognized, and by virtue of deserved 
promotion He had served thirteen years upon tlie com- 
mittee, had passed through all its labors and throes, and 
was at length crowned with its leadership, to crown, in 



LIFE OF WILLIAM Mo KINLEY. 459 

turn, his party and country with its greatest and best pro- 
tective safeguard. 

In his early Congressional career, the questions of great- 
est moment related to the currency and to the resumption 
of specie payments in 1879. In these he took a keen in- 
terest, and stood shoulder to shoulder with the Republican 
leaders who had resolved that the country's promises to 
pay should be redeemed in gold, and that the national 
credit should be at par in all the world. 

Time and again the subject of pension for Union soldiers 
come up, and each time it found in Major McKinley one 
of its most resolute and effective champions. No subject 
touched him more nearly, and over none did he ever grow 
more fervent and forceful. 

What may be called his maiden speech upon the doc- 
trine of protection was made in 1878 when the Wood 
tariff bill was under discussion. This speech ranked as one 
of the ablest delivered during those debates, and in it 
McKnjley took the high and noble stand he was to occupy 
in all subsequent discussions of the same momentous sub- 
ject. It stamped him more as leader, than follower, of the 
economic thoughts which were to dominate future tariff 
legislation. It prepared the way for his powerful advo- 
cac}' of that measure which came up in 1882, and which 
looked to the appointment of a Tariff Commission, duly 
authorized by Congress, whose duty should be a friendly 
revision of the tariff. 

This commission prepared and presented the tariff bill 
of 1883. In advocacy of its passage Major INIcKinley 
stood shoulder to shoulder with such veteran protectionists 
as Kelley and others and evenl}^ divided with them the 
honors of debate. It was at this juncture that Judge 
Kelley said of him, "he has distanced all his colleagues in 



460 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

mastering the details of tlie tariff." And this was the oc- 
casion when JMcKinley made the protective idea a para- 
mount doctrine of the Republican party by carrying it 
farther down to the masses and into the workshops and 
homes, than any previous exponent had done. He proved 
to be the greatest orator of this memorable occasion, and 
a prophet as well, for the revelations of 1894 repeated ii> 
disaster and want and tears and groans his visions of 1883. 
( By 1884 McKinley had deservedly and honorably won 
the title of " Champion of American Protection." Or, if 
not yet, the title could no longer be withheld, for he was 
about to add another imposing chapter to liis career in the 
celebrated debates on the Morrison horizontal tariff bill. 
In his opposition to this bill he was learned, exhaustive, 
merciless, and such a master of the situation as to make 
those who favored the bill appear ridiculous, and the bill 
itself an economic farce. 

In 1888, Mr. Mills sprung his remarkable attack on 
American industries upon the Congress, by a bill which 
became known as the "Mills Tariff Bill." This bill was an 
insult to the minority of the Ways and Means Committee, 
for it had been prepared and presented without consult- 
ing with them. The insult was resented and the bill op- 
posed by the minority, headed by Mr. McKinley, in a report, 
wliich for minute detail, exhaustive presentation of facts, 
and invincible argument, must ever stand as a monument 
to his patient industry and perfect mastery of his subject. 
It was regarded as one of the ablest papers on the subject 
of tariff ever presented to Congress, and when it was fol- 
lowed in a short time by the speech of its author in the 
House, he clinched the impression already existing as to 
the report, that none could approach him in fearless, logi- 
cal and convincing championship of the doctrine of protec- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M< KINLEY. 461 

tion. This report and this speech \vent to tlie country in 
the campaign of 1888, and served as potent agencies in 
the election of President Harrison, with a KepubHcan 
House of Representatives. 

Major iVicKinley now reached the grandest op[)ortunity 
of liis brilliant career, thus far. By virtue of his position 
as chairman of the Committee of Ways and Means in the 
Fifty-first Congfess he was to incorporate the policy of 
party and the A'erdict of the country into its commercial 
economy, to put into the form of statute the doctrine of 
protection that been so ably and fully presented in the 
preceding campaign, and so emphatically [)assed upon* 
He entered upon this work fully equipped bj^ ex[)erience, 
and with all the enthusiasm of his ardent nature. Deter- 
mined to avoid the errors into which the Democrats had 
previously fallen, he invited all the interests concerned in 
tariff revision to a hearing, and a bill was framed which 
was to constitute the Tariff Actof 1890, and be popularly 
known as the " ]\IcKinley Bill." It involved the exper- 
ience of all former tariff legislation and the best features 
of all former acts. It imposed protective rates in the in- 
terest of American labor, on home manufactures whose 
existence was threatened by foreign competition. It im- 
posed higher rates on manufactures which we ought to 
produce but did not. It largely reduced tlie duties on 
necessaries of life, or made them (such as sugar) free. It 
greatly enlarged the free list by placing on it all raw 
materials whose importation did not complete with the 
liome growth of the same. It introduced the policy of 
reciprocity. 

No previous tariff bill had ever been so fully matured, 
or had so satisfied in advance the various interests con- 
sulted in its preparation. Certainly none ever passed that 



462 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

was more ably championed or persistently opposed. Its 
passage occupied the entire time of the first session of the 
Fifty-first Congress, and during all that time Mr. McKinley 
stood at the head of his party, directing the fortunes of 
his bill, and vigilant day and night over its fate. Its pas- 
sage was a signal triumph of his patience, endurance and 
legislative ability. His name went forth Avith the tide of 
prosperity that followed the bill, and was heard amid the 
rejoicings in every hamlet, workshop and home of the 
land. He came to stand for the beneficence of his meas- 
ure in the eyes and hearts of the toiling millions. 

At a later date, 1894, when the McKinley Act was 
about to be repealed by the Wilson Act which President 
Cleveland designated as a product of "perfidy and dis- 
honor " and permitted to become a law without his signa- 
ture, Mr. McKinley spoke thus of the operation of the 
act which bore his name : 

"The law of 1890 was enacted for the American people 
and the American home. Whatever mistakes were made 
in it were all made in favor of the occupations and the 
firesides of the American people. It didn't take away a 
single day's work from a solitary American workingman. 
It gave work and wages to all, such as they had never 
had before. It did it by establishing new and great in- 
dustries in this country, which increased the demand for 
tlie skill and handiwork of our laborers everywhere. It 
had no friends in Europe. It gave their industries no 
stimulus. It gave no employment to their labor at the 
expense of our own. 

" During more than two years of the administration of 
President Harrison, and down to its end, it raised all the 
revenue necessary to pay the vast expenditures of the 
Government, including the interest on the public debt and 



LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 



4G3 



tlie pensions. It never encvoaclied upon the gold reserve, 
which in the past had alwa3^s been sacredly preserved for 
the redemption of outstanding paper obligations of the 
Government. 

" During all its operations, down to the change and re- 
versal of its policy by the election of 1892, no man can 
assert that in the industries affected by it wages were too 
high, although they were higher than ever before in this 
or any other country. If au}^ such can be found, I beg 
that they be named. I challenge the enemies of the law 
of 1890 to name a single industry of that kind. Further, 
I assert that in the industries affected by that law, which 
that law fostered no American consumer suffered by the 
increased cost of any home products that he bonght. lie 
never bought them so low before, nor did he ever enjoy the 
benefit of so much open, free home competition. Neither 
producer nor consumer, employer or employee, suffered 
by that law. 

As Governor- 

The attack made on the McKinley Act by its free trade 
enemies, fall of 1890, and before any of its beneficent re- 
sults could be tabulated and officiall}' shown, was the most 
ferocious illogical and deceptive attack in the annals of 
campaigning. It passions and falsehoods carried down 
many of the active advocates of the bill. McKinley 's de- 
feat for the Fifty-second Congress was brought about by a 
Democratic gerrymander of his district, which was now 
made hopelessly Democratic. Yet he lost it by only a 
paltry majority, though the Democrats centred in its 
s])eakers and resources from various States. But what 
was an irreparable loss to the j^arty and the country 
proved to be a gain to his State and himself. Sentiment 



464 LIFE OF WILLIAM Mc KINLEY. 

ill his State began immediately to settle on him as a can- 
didate for Governor. Ho would not enter a contest for 
the honor, but would accept if it came spontaneously. 

The State Convention was held in June, 1891, There 
was really but one candidate put in nomination, and that 
was McKinley. His nomination was unanimously made. 
It was received with applause throughout the State, and 
the campaign was active and aggressive from the first, on 
the lines of protection and reciprocity. Mr. McKinley 
made it a typical "campaign of education," visiting in 
person eighty-six out of eighty eight counties in the State, 
and speaking one hundred and thirty times. 

The Democrats contested every inch of the ground 
stubbornly, but the people turned to McKinley as to the 
apostle of the true dispensation, and women and children 
said he had made protection and tariff plain to them. In 
that campaign, the first general campaign Mr. McKinley 
had ever made, he was pronounced the best vote-getter 
ever seen on the stump in Ohio. He won the admiration 
of Democrats, as he won the devotion of Republicans, 
and his election by a handsome majority was gratifying to 
one party, without being a source of bitterness to the 
rank and file of the other party. As his first term in the 
Governor's chair drew toward its close he was renomi- 
nated by acclamation, and after another spirited campaign 
he was reelected by a majority of more than 80,000, at 
Ithat time the largest but one in the history of the State. 

As Governor, Mr. McKinley never forgot that he was 
the Chief Magistrate, not merely of the party which had 
elected him, but of the whole State, and he was untiring 
in his efforts to secure for the whole State a wise, economi- 
cal and honorable administration. He took great interest 
in the management of the public institutions of the State, 



LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 465 

making a special study of means for their betterment, and 
securing many important and mncli-needed reforms. He 
urged the preserving and improving of the caiud system, 
and was an earnest promoter of the movement for good 
roads. To the question of tax reform he paid mucli atten- 
tion, and repeatedly urged its importance upon the Legis-. 
hiture. Many questions rehating to the welfare of work- 
iugmen became acute dui'ing his administration, and were 
dealt with by him in a spirit of intelligent sympatln'. He 
liad already long been known as an advocate of the eight- 
hour system, and of arbitration as a means of settling dis- 
putes between employers and employees. It was due to 
his initiative that the State Board of Arbitration was 
established in Ohio, and to its successful operation he 
gave for nearly four years his close personal attention. 
He made various wise recommendations for legislation for 
the better protection of life and limb in industrial pur- 
suits, and as a result seveial salutary laws to such effect 
were put U[)on the statute book. When destitution and 
distress prevailed among the miners of the Hocking 
Valley, lie acted with characteristic promptness and de- 
cision. News tlnit man}' families were in danger of starv- 
ing reached him at midnight. Before sunrise he had a 
carload of provisions on the way to their relief. 
^ Many times during his administration tlie peace of the 
State was disturbed by unseemly outbreaks requiring the 
application of the restraining power of the Government. 
This power Mr. McKinley exercised with signal firmness 
and discretion. Fifteen times it was necessary to call out 
the State troops for the maintenance or restoration of 
order, but on no occasion was the use of them in any 
respect oppressive. During the summer of 1894 strikes 
and other disturbances prevailed, especially on the chief 



466 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

railroad lines, and for three weeks the regiments were on 
duty, acquitting themselves most creditably for the pro-, 
tection of property and enforcement of the law, without 
any unnecessary harshness toward either i arty to the dis- 
putes. On two notewortliy occasions desperate efforts 
were made by ill-advised mobs to commit the crime of 
lynching. Governor McKinley promptly used the mili- 
tary forces of the State to prevent such violence of law 
and dishonor to the Commonwealth, and showed himself 
a thorough master of the trying situation. 

A distinctive feature of the McKinley administration 
was the absence of red tape and needless formality. In 
liis method of transacting business the Governor was con- 
cise and direct, and in his intercourse with the })eople, 
though dignified, he was always approachable and genial. 
Access was readily had to him at all reasonable times, and 
no matter of actual interest ever failed to receive his 
courteous, prompt and painstaking attention. 

Personal Appearance and Home Life. 

Mr. IMcKinley is five feet, seven inches in height, 
straight as an arrow, and of full, rotund figure. His 
mouth is grave and dignified, his lower jaw heavy and 
firm, his forehead high, broad and full. His eyes are 
dark and look out keenly from under ample brows. The* 
general cast of his face is pleasant, and it lights up into 
animated expressiveness when he smiles, or under the 
glow of excitement. His favorite suit for dress purposes 
is a double-breasted frock coat and a tall silk liat. 

His tastes are modest and habits quiet. He enjoys a 
cigar, but rarely touches strong drinks. He loves the 
country, and enjoys the sight of fine cattle and horses. 
Before his financial reverses he owned a farm in Colura- 



LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 467 

biana County on wliicli he spent part of his leisure time. 
He is a charming man to meet at home, on the street, and in 
a business or political waj'. His presence is prepossessing, 
though his conversation is not striking nor scintilhiting. 
He talks to the piint both in home and public speech 
Not caring for interviews, he is yet affable with newspaper 
men, who as a rule are attiacled by him, except wlien lie 
wears them out with his indomitable energy in campaign 
work, as was the case in his celebrated campaigns of 1890, 
1891 and 1893. 

In the speeches he makes one notable characteristic is 
always prominent. He does not make enemies. No n)an 
ever heard McKinley abuse a political opponent from the 
stump. Few men have ever heard him speak with dis- 
respect or malignity of one in private life. Only among 
his close confidants, and they are carefully chosen and 
not numerous, does he allow himself to speak his mind 
fully. 

In 1893 Mr. McKinley suffered severe financial reverses 
through the failure of a friend for whom he had endorsed 
heavily. His own savings of a lifetime, amounting to 
S20,000 were entirely swept away. His wife came nobly 
to his rescue with her inherited property, but this too was 
absorbed by the losses, and the two found themselves 
penniless. At this juncture, friends of Mr. McKinley, 
without his knowledge or consent, began a quiet sub- 
scription, which in a short while resulted in a sum suffi- 
cient to release himself and wife from tlie terms of tl^^^ 
assignment they had made. 

Mr. and Mrs. iMcKinley have been inseparable com- 
panions, except when he was engaged in camj)aign work, 
and their domestic life has been one of mutual trust and 
happiness. During his service in Washington she was 



468 LIFE OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

always with him, embroidering the slippers which has con- 
stituted her principal employment in his absence, until the 
number which have solaced the sufferers in hospitals is 
said to amount to nearly four thousand. From Congres- 
sional duty to his wife and back to duty was tlie round oi 
his Washington life. While Governor of Ohio four rooms 
in the Chittenden House in Columbus was their home. 
An early breakfast and he was off to his executive duties. 
It was remarked that he always left his hotel by a side 
entrance, and when well across the street he turned, and 
lifted his hat, while a handkerchief fluttered for an instant 
from the window of his home. Then the Governor with 
a pleased smile walked jauntily off toward the State 
House. This was repeated every evening, showing that 
loving watch was kept at that window. Occasionall}^ 
weather and health permitting, Mrs. McKinley indulged 
in a carriage ride, her husband always accompanying her. 
Always on Sunday the Governor took an early train for 
Canton, and going to his mother's house accompanied her 
to the First M. E. Church, of which he has been a mem- 
ber for thirty-five years. He was superintendent of its 
Sunday-school until public duty took him to Wash- 
ington. 

After their devotions he escorted his proud mother to 
her home again and then took the first train for Columbus, 
where he spent the remainder of the day with his wife. 
After he resumed his home life in Canton his days were 
ffltet so full of incident. His office is across the hall from 
the family apartments on the ground floor. There in an 
ample and well stocked library he receives his numerous 
callers and gives as much time to his secretary and cor- 
respondence as he can atiord. Then he seeks the solace 
of companionship with the wife whose gentle spirit has 




MARK A. HANNA, 
Chairiiiaii Republican National Committee. 



v^ ^ 



''Nn; 




Hon. Ciiauncey M. Depkw. 

Born in Peekskill, N. Y., April 23, 1834; graduated at Ynle, 1856; 
studied law and admitted to bar; elected to New York Assembly, 
1861-62; elected Speaker; elected Secretary of New York State, 1863; 
Tax Commissioner of N. Y. city; nominated Minister to Japan ; General 
Counsel for Hudson R. & N. Y. Central R. R's, 1866 and 1869 ; candi- 
date for Lieut. -Governor, 1872, but defeated ; Regent of State University, 
1874; President of N. Y. Central R. R., 1885; President of Union 
League and Yale Alumni Association ; prominent candidate for Presi- 
dent of U. S. before conventions of 1884, 1888 ; manager of Harrison 
forces in convention of 1892; celebrated as orator and lecturer; spoken 
of as Secretary of State to succeed Blaine; delegate to National 
Republican Convention of 1896. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M KINLEY. 471 

mellowed his nature and brouglit to its highest develop- 
ment his own dominant kindliness and gentle spirit toward 
friend and foe. 

Presidential Candidate. 

It was in the natural order of things that a man so 
forcefid and efficient in every tried capacity should pres- 
ently be regaixled as a possible future President of the 
United otates. As early as 1880 he was spoken of as a 
coming; candidate. In 1884 his name was brought before 
the Republican National Convention, though not with his 
authority or desire. Four years later, in 1888, the Presi- 
dency lay within his reach, but he declined it on a point 
of honor. lie was a delegate to the Chicago Convention 
from Ohio, pledged to sup;:ort the candidacy of his friend, 
Senator Sherman. After several ballots had been taken, 
however, it became evident that the veteran statesman of 
Ohio was not to be the Convention's choice. His friends 
supported him loyally, but were in a hopeless minority, 
and weie unable torally others to their standard. So some 
of them began to cast about for another candidate to 
whom they could tiansfer tlieir votes with better prospect 
of success Their choice quickly fell upon McKinle3^ 
From the first, two delegates had been voting persistently 
for him, although he had not, of course been formally 
placed in nomination. Now the number of the supporters 
rose to fourteen. All the Republican Congressman at 
Washington telegraphed to tiie Convention, urging his 
nomiiuitioii. The air became electric with premonitions 
of a stampede. He had listened to the announcement of 
the two votes for him on each ballot with mingled annoy 
ance and amusement. P>ut now tlie case was growing seri- 
ous. The next ballot might give him a majority of the 
27 



472 LIFE OF WII.LIAM MCKINLEY. 

whole convention. He had only to sit still and the ripe 
fruit would drop into his hands. He had only to utter an 
equivocal protest and the result would be the same. But 
there was nothing equivocal about William McKinley. 
On one side was his personal honor ; on the other side the 
Presidency of the United States. In choosing between 
the two, hesitation was impossible. He sprang to his feet 
with an expression upon his face and an accent in his 
voice that thrilled the vast assembly, but hushed it mute 
and silent as the grave while he spoke i 

" I am here as one of the chosen representatives of my 
State. I am here by resolution of the Republican State 
Convention, passed without a single dissenting vote, com- 
manding me to cast my vote for John Sherman for Presi- 
dent and to use every worthy endeavor for his nomina- 
tion. I excepted the trust because my heart and my 
judgment were in accord with the letter and spirit and 
purpose of that resolution. It has pleased certain dele- 
gates to cast their vote for me for President. I am not in- 
sensible to the honor they would do me, but in the 
presence of the duty resting upon me, I cannot remain 
silent with honor. 

" I cannot, consistently with the wish of the State whose 
credentials I bear and which has trusted me : I cannot with 
honorable fidelity to John Sherman , I cannot, consistently 
with my own views of personal integrity, consent, or seem 
to consent, to permit my name to be used as a candidate 
before this convention. I would not respect myself if I 
should find it in my heart to do so, or permit to be done 
that which would ever be ground for any one to suspect 
that I wavered in my loyalty to Ohio or my devotion to 
the chief of her choice and the chief of mine. I do not re- 
quest, I demand that no delegate who would not cast a re- 
flection upon me shall cast a ballot for me." 

That ended it. There was no stampede. McKinley was 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M''KINLEY. 41ii 

the liei'O of tlie lioiir, and liis heroism prevailed. Tlie nomi- 
nation was not forced upon him, neither coviUl lie secure it 
for Mr. Sherman, though he loyally strove to do so to the 
end. But no man was ever walked out of a National 
Convention with higher honors upon him than those he 
bore that day. 

Another similar incident occurred in 1892. Mr. Mc- 
Kinley was the presiding officer. He was pledged in honor 
to the support of President Harrison for renoniination. 
But the party bosses sought to defeat such renoniination, 
and sought to do so by stampeding the Convention for Mc- 
Kinley himself. No less than 182 votes were cast for him, 
against his earnest protest. When the vote of Ohio was 
announced, "44 for McKinley," he himself from the chair 
challenged its correctness. The reply was made that he 
was not then a member of the delegation, his alternate 
taking his place when he was elected to the chair. There- 
upon Mr. McKinley called another man to the chair and 
took his place upon the floor, checked the incipient stam- 
pede, and moved that the renoniination of Harrison be 
made unanimous. " Your turn will come in 1896 ! " 
shouted his supporters. 

That prophecy was to be fulfilled. There was hardly a 
time between 1892 and 1896 when the finger of party 
sentiment did not point unerrijigly to jNIajor McKinley as 
a Presidential possibility. There were other aspirants for 
the high honor, each well equipped for the place, and all 
enjoying the respect and confidence of the Republican or- 
ganization, but no name inspired the general masses with 
such hope and enthusiasm as did that of McKinley. As 
the State Conventions met in their order to choose 
delegates to the National Convention at St. Louis, it be- 
came manifest that the popular tide was running 



474 LIFE OF "WILLIAM MCKINLEY. 

stronger and stronger in favor of McKinley, and was soon 
to become irresistible. Politicians who favored other can- 
didates, party bosses who sought opportunities for tiades 
and manipulations, every time-serving element in the ]>arty, 
pulled their little barks in vain against the strong McKin- 
ley current. No such uprising of the people in behalf of 
a candidate had been witnessed since the time Lincoln had 
been named for a second term. Ere the day of the 
National Convention dawned, it was definitely known 
that his nomination could not be defeated. His popular- 
ity proved to be a talisman in the strongholds of other as- 
})irants, and their strength dwindled away to the despair 
of their friends. The mighty uprising sprang from the 
eager, passionate determination of the people to retrieve 
the stupendous mistake of 1892, with its blight of panic 
and depression, and to restore the principles and policies 
of which they regarded jNIcIvinley as the foremost repre- 
sentative and exponent. To the masses of his part}-, he 
personified protection, and typified the reaction from the 
catastrophe of 1892. His whole congressional career had 
been a series of courageous battles for protection. In 1888 
lie had led the opposition to the Mills bill. After the re- 
verses of 1890 and 1892, he upheld the banner of protec- 
tion on a thousand platforms all over the land, and Mc- 
Kinley and protection were everywhere associated in the 
public mind. His eloquent voice, plain practical argu- 
ments, pleasing, persuasive address and indefatigable 
effort, had easily made him the preeminent representative 
of the cause which appealed so loudly to the industrial 
and business elements of the country. 

On June 10, 189G, the Executive Committee of the 
National Republican Committee met at St. Ix)uis for the 
purpose of hearing contests and settling the preliminaries 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M'KINLEY. 475 

of tlie National Convention. Its nieinbers were anxious 
fur a test of the strengtli of their favorites for the Presi- 
dential nomination. The contests over disputed seats 
soon presented the desired test. A single aye and no vote 
over the contest in Alabama settled the complexion of the 
Committee. The anti-McKinley strength in the Com- 
mittee amounted to no more than seven votes, while the 
JMcKinley strength amounted to thirty-eiglit votes. It 
was conceded by tlie leaders of the anti-j\IcKinley forces 
that his strength was overwhelmning in tlie Committee, 
and that it would be reflected in the convention in the 
most direct and powerful way. 

The National Republican Convention, the eleventli in 
the liistory of the party, met Tuesday, June 16, 1896, at 
St. Louis, and was organized under the leadership of iNIr. 
McKiuIey's friend, Mr. Hanna, of Cleveland, by the elec- 
tion of Hon. C. W. Fairbanks of Indiana, as temporary 
chairman. On the 17th a permanent organization was 
effected by the election of Senator John M. Thurston of 
Nebraska as chairman. The first momentous question 
before the Convention was that of the platform. It was 
known that a few delegates from the mining States would 
insist upon a free silver coinage plaidc, and there was 
anxiety to find out their strength. Wlien the platform 
was reported, it possessed the true Republican ring, and 
was empliatic on those cardinal principles of the party, a 
tariff levied so as to protect American industry, and a 
national currency redeemable in gold or its equivalent. 
The platform, fixing the policy of the party for the cam- 
paign and for the next four years, was voted upon with 
the result, that 8121 votes were cast in favor of its financial 
plank, and 110|- against, the latter representing the free 
silver coinage strength. After this result a portion of the 



476 LIFE OF WILLFAM McKINLEY. 

free silver men withdrew from the Convention, and the 
rest of the platform was unanimously adopted. 

The time now came for nominations for President. The 
candidates [)laced in nomination were Senator W. B. 
Allison, of Iowa; flon. Thomas B. Reed, of Maine; 
Governor Levi P. Morton, of New York; Senator M. S. 
Quay, of Pennsylvania; Hon. William McKinley, of Ohio. 
In las speech placing Mr. McKinley in nomination. Senator 
Foraker, of Ohio, said : 

'^ It remains for us how, as the last crowning act of our 
work, to meet again that same expectation in the nomina- 
tion of our candidates. What is that expectation ? What 
is it that tlie people want? They want as their candidate 
something more than 'a good business man' (an allusion 
to Mr. Depew's characterization of Governor Morton). 
They want something more than a popular leader. They 
want something more than a wise and patriotic statesman. 
Tliey want a man who embodies in himself not only all 
tliese essential qualifications, but those, in addition, which, 
in the highest possible degree, typify in name, in char- 
acter, in record, in ambition, in purpose, the exact oppo- 
site of all that is signified and represented by that free 
trade, deficit-making, bond-issuing, labor-assassinating, 
Democratic administration. (Cheers.) I stand here to pre- 
sent to this Convention such a man. His name is William 
McKinley." 

At this point the Convention broke into tumultous 
cheers, which could not be restrained till a (quarter of an 
hour had clasped. When Mr. Foraker was permitted to 
continue, he eulogized the great Republican leaders, and 
further said : 

" But, greatest of all, measured by present require- 
ments, is the leader of the House of Representatives, the 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M( KINLEY. 477 

author of the McKinley Bill, which gave to labor its rich- 
est rewards. No other name so completely meets the re- 
quirements of the occasion, and no other name so abso- 
lutely commands all hearts. The shafts of envy and 
malice and slander and libel and detraction that have been 
aimed at him lie broken and harmless at his feet. The 
(juiver is empty, and he is untouched. That is because 
the people know him, trust him, believe in him, love him, 
and will not permit any human power to disparage him 
unjustly in their estimation. 

"They know that he is an American of Americans. 
The}' know that he is just and able and brave, and they 
want him for President of the United States. (Applause.) 
They have already shown it — not in this or that State, nor 
in this or that section, but in all the States and in all the 
sections from ocean to ocean, and from the Gulf to the 
Lakes. They expect of you to give them a chance to vote 
for him. It is our duty to do it. If we discharge that 
duty we will give joy to their hearts, enthusiasm to their 
souls and triumphant victory to our cause. (Applause.) 
And he, in turn, will give us an administration under 
wdiich the country' will enter on a new era of prosperity 
at home and of glory and honor abroad, by all these 
tokens of the present and all these promises of the future. 
In the name of the forty-six delegates of Ohio, I submit 
his claim to your consideration. (More applause.)" 

Mr. Foraker's motion was eloquently seconded by the 
chairman, Senator Thurston. 

The Convention was now ready for a ballot. It was 
evident that a single one would bring the desired result. 
It was taken by a call of States, with the following 
result. 



478 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKlNLEr. 

McKinley 661 J 

Reed 84| 

Quay 6l| 

Morton 58 

Allison 36| 

Cameron 1 

Absent or not voting «... 22 



Total 924 

' The Convention broke into a delirium of joy over this 
result, and united spontaneously in the request to make 
McKinley's nomination unanimous. Never was a nomina- 
tion received with greater satisfaction or more unanimous 
expressions of joy b}^ pi^i'ty or country than this one. 
Even political opponents could not withhold their con- 
gratulations over a triumph so deserved by tlie man and 
over a situation that promised so much for the honor and 
success of the party. All the land seemed to be united 
in one voice, and that was that William McKinley and 
what he stood for in the platform of principles, were what 
a long suffering country demanded to redeem it, and re- 
store it to the prosperous era prior to 1892. 

The life of Mr. McKinley at Canton, for a time after 
his nomination, was filled with congratulatory episodes — ■ 
letters, telegrams, visitors, singl}^ and b}' delegations, 
speeches — to which welcomes and replies had to be ex- 
tended. But the liveliest of all these episodes, and the 
one that made an imposing chapter in his own and his 
party's history, was the occasion of June 29, when he 
was officially notified of his nomination, by thtt Conven- 
tion's Committee, comj)osed of a representative from eacli 
State and Territory. Sucli occasions had liithertc J^een 
formal and stilted, but Mr. McKinley threw into it the 



LIFE OF WILLIA^r IVfr KINLEY. 479 

grace of a new departure, by turning it to the account of 
liis party and country. In his own eloquent, logical and 
convincing way he let it be known precisely how he stood 
toward the party and its platform of principles, how the 
party was expected to stand toward the countrj', and what 
were the solemn duties of an hour in which redemption 
from existing ills was expected. It was as though he had 
already written and published his formal letter of accept- 
ance, and his sturdy stand and emphatic words were ap- 
plauded in every business centre and Republican home. 
This sketch could be no more fittingly concluded than b}' 
quoting some of the masterly allusions, in his speech of 
acceptance, to the leading issues of the hour: 

" Great are the issues involved in the coming election, 
and eager and earnest the people for their right deter- 
mination. Our domestic trade must be won back and 
our idle working people employed in gainful occupations 
at American wages. Our home market must be restored 
to its proud rank of first in the world, and our foreign 
trade, so precipitately cut off by adverse national legisla- 
tion, reopened on fair and equitable terms for our surplus 
agricultural and manufacturing products. Protection and 
reciprocity, twin measures of a true American policy, 
should again command the earnest encouragement of the 
Government at Washington. 

"Public confidence must be resumed, and the skill, the 
energy, and the capital of our country find ample em- 
ployment at home, sustained, encouraged and defended 
against the unequal competition and serious disadvantages 
with which they are now contending. 

" It must be apparent to all, regardless of past party ties 
or affiliations, that it is our paramount dut}^ to provide 
adepuate revenue for the exj)enditures of the Govern- 



480 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 

ment economically and prudently administered. This the 
Republican party has heretofore done, and this I con- 
fideiitl}^ believe it will do in the future, when the party is 
again entrusted with power in the executive and legisla- 
tive branches of our Government. 

"The national credit, which has thus far fortunately 
resisted every assault upon it, must and will be upheld 
and strengthened. If sufficient revenues are provided for 
the support of the Government, there will be no necessity 
for borrowing money and increasing the public debt. 
The complaint of the people is not against the adminis- 
tration for borrowing money and issuing bonds to preserve 
the credit of the country, but against the ruinous policy 
which has made this necessary, owing to the policy which 
has been inaugurated. 

"The inevitable effect of such a policy is seen in the 
deficiency in the United States Treasury, except as it is 
replenished by loans, and in the distress of the people 
who are suffering because of the scant demand for their 
labor and the products of their labor. Here is the funda- 
mental trouble, the remedy for which is the Republican 
opportunity and duty. During all the years of Republi- 
can control following resumption there was a steady re- 
duction of tlie public debt, while the gold reserve was 
sacredly maintained, and our currency and credit pre- 
served without depreciation, taint, or suspicion. 

•■'If we would restore this policy that brought us un- 
exampled prosperity for more than thirty years under the 
most trying conditions ever known in this country, the 
policy by which we made and bought more goods at home 
and sold more abroad, the trade balance would be quickly 
turned in our favor, and gold would come to ms and not 



i 



LIFE OF WILLIAM M< KIN LEY. 



481 



go from us in the settlement of all such balances in the 
future. 

" Tiie party that supplied, by legislation, the vast 
revenues for the conduct of our greatest war, tliat 
promptly restored the credit of the country at its close, 
that from its abundant revenues paid off a large share of 
the debt incurred in this war, and that resumed specie 
payments, and placed our paper currency upon a sound 
and enduring basis, can be safely trusted to preserve both 
our credit and currency with honor, stability and inviola- 
bility. 

" The American people hold the financial iionor of our 
Government as sacred as our flag, and can be relied upon 
to guard it with the same sleepless vigilance. They hold 
its preservation above party fealty, and have often demon- 
strated that party ties avail nothing when the spotless 
ciedit of our country is threatened. 

"The money of the United States, and every kind or 
form of it, whether of paper, silver or gold, must be as 
good as the best in the world. It must not only be cur- 
rent at its full face value at home, but it must be counted 
at par in any and every commercial centre of the globe. 
The sagacious and far-seeing policy of the great men who 
founded our Government, the teachings and acts of tjie 
wisest financiers at every stage in our history, the stead- 
fast faith and splendid achievements of^tlie great party to 
which we belong, and the genius and integrity of ourj^eo- 
ple, have always demanded this, and will ever maintain it. 
The dollar paid to the farmer, the wage-earner and the 
jiensioner must continue forever equal in purchasing and 
debt-paying power to the dollar paid to any Government 
creditor. 

" The contest this year will not be waged upon lines of 



482 LIFE OP Wn.LTAM MCKINLEY. 

theory and speculation, but in the light of severe practi- 
cal experience and new and dearly acquired knowledge. 
The great body of our citizens know what they want, and 
that they intend to have. They know for what the Re- 
publican party stands, and what its return to power means 
to them. They realize that the Republican party believes 
that our work should be done at home and not abroad, 
and everywhere proclaim their devotion to the principles 
of a protective tariff which, while supplying adequate 
revenues for the Government, will restore American pro- 
duction and serve the best interests of American labor 
and development. 

" Our appeal, therefore, is not to a false philosophy or 
vain theorists, but to the masses of the American people, 
the plain, practical people whom Lincoln loved and trusted, 
and whom tlie Republican party has always faithfully 
striven to serve. 

"The platform adopted by the Republican National 
Convention has received my careful consideration and has 
my unqualified approval. It is a matter of gratification 
to me, as I am sure it must be to you and Republicans 
everywhere, and to all our people, that the expressions of 
its declaration of principles are so direct, clear and em- 
phatic. They are too plain and positive to leave any 
chance for doubt or question as to their purport and 
meaning." 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 



Garret A. Hobart, nominee of the Republican party 
for Vice President, in 1896, was born at Long Branch, 
N. J., in the year 1844. His youth was spent in that vicinity, 
where the opportunity for education was good. He 
enteied Rutgers' College at the age of fifteen years, and 
graduated therefrom at the age of nineteen. 

After graduation he entered upon the study of law in 
the office of Socrates Tuttle, of Paterson, who ranked as 
one of the leading attorneys of the State. Mr. Hobart 
was admitted to the bar in 186G, and three years after was 
enrolled as a counsellor of law. He entered upon practice 
ill Paterson, and his success was rapid and brilliant. In 
1871 he was elected Counsel of the City of Paterson, 
which office he filled with great force and ability. The 
next year he was chosen Counsel of the Board of Free- 
holders of Passaic County, another office of great legal 
responsibility, and also acceptably filled. 

Mr. Hobart's political career began with his election to 
the House ot Assembly of the State of New Jersey. Here 
he displayed such energy and parliamentary knowledge, 
such tact and rare executive force, that in his second yciir 
of service, he was elected Speaker of tlie House. In this 
responsible capacity he served so ably as to win the regard 
of all members without distinction of pait}^ and the 
favorable impression he made was not lost on the people 
of Passaic County. 

(483) 



484 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

In 1875 he was urged to accept a renomination, but 
was forced to decline the honor owing to a pressure of 
leeal business. When the honor of a nomination for the 
State Senate was extended in 1877, he was induced to 
accept, and at once entered upon an active campaign. He 
was elected by a large majority. So satisfactory had his 
service proved, that his constituents renominated liim for 
the Senate in 1879, giving him a majority far larger than 
before, and the largest ever given to a candidate for the 
same office in Passaic County. 

During the years 1881 and 1882 he was President of tlie 
Senate, and when he closed his career in the Legislature, 
it was with the thanks not only of his county but of the 
entire State for the ability and care with which he had 
served the best interests uf the people at large. It was 
while he was a member of the Senate that he was chosen 
a member of the State Republican Committee, of which 
body he was elected Chairman in 1880. This brought 
him into more direct contact with his party in general, 
and just such high character of service as he was qualified 
to give was much needed in the State, for the Republican 
party had long been confronted by a horde of Democrats 
who defied honest party methods, and had so fattened on 
the spoils of office as to regard all efforts of opponents to 
dislodge them with scorn. 

No set of men in political life ever had a harder task 
before them, than IVIr. Hobart and his associates of the 
State Republican Committee. They worked persistently 
and heroically for years to rout the enemy from his en- 
trenchments and restore the lost honor of their State. 
Inch by inch they gained ground, and after three years of 
incessant warfare they succeeded in capturing the enemy's 
salient points, and in wresting the Legislature from his 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOB ART. 485 

iron grasp. jMucIi of the honor of this signal victor}^ be- 
longed to Mr. liobart. 

He was not content, however, with victory, nor with 
anything short of the utter rout and demoralization of 
the corrupting forces within tjje State. Still a member 
of the State Committee, and one of its hardest worker^! 
and most trusted advisers, he was found in every fray 
that punished the retreating enemy, and in every council 
that helped to strengthen his pai ty and promote its grow- 
ing welfare. Under his able organizing direction, with 
his swift and keen executive ability, by reason of the in- 
vincible blows he prepared and struck, the enemy was 
forced from cover to cover, and, at length, out of the pio- 
longed and herculean strife came the great Republican 
victory of 1895, which seated Governor Griggs in the ex- 
ecutive chair, and redeemed the State from Democratic 
misrule. 

But Mr. Hobart's splendid i^olitical -achievments have 
not by any means been limited to his State. As early as 
1884, he became a figure in national politics as the choice 
of his State delegation for member of the national com- 
mittee. Into this wider sphere of political influence lie 
carried the same sagacity, industry and influence that had 
made him so conspicuous and useful a force in local affairs. 
This honor of membership in the national committee was 
continued in 1888, 1892 and again in 189G. In 1892 he 
served as vice chairman of the committee. 

Mr. Hobart's business career has coveied a wide field 
and been a series of proud successes. The energy and 
ability that heralded the great advocate, the courage, sagac- 
ity and per.-^istency that crowned the political leader, 
were largely supplemented in his nature with the qualities 
and inclinations that demanded the activities of business. 



486 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

His skill, diplomacy and acumen came into request in con» 
nection with industrial enterprises, and his genius found 
agreeable vent at the head of various important institu- 
tions. 

Among his first business connections was his receiver- 
ship of the New Jerse}'- Midland Railway. He found the 
affairs of this corporation in a most demoralized condition, 
but by the application of his extraordinary business tact 
and energy he was enabled to rescue the company from 
its perilous position, and to turn it over to the stockholders 
in a state of solvency. 

Subsequently he was appointed to the receivership of the 
Montclair Railroad, and of the Jersey City and Albany 
line. In 1880, when the First National Bank of Newark 
failed, Mr. Hobart was appointed its receiver. He took 
hold of the delicate and intricate task with his usual vigor 
and acumen, and managed it so successfully that in six 
months he closed up its affairs, with the payment of all the 
depositors in full. 

He filled the responsiblepositionof general manager of the 
East Jersey Water Company and its allied interests, and 
is president of the Passaic Water Company, the Acquack- 
anonck Water Company, the consolidated lines of the 
Paterson Railway Company, the Morris County Railway, 
and the People's Gas Company. 

To these important trusts he adds the duties of director 
in several National Banks and of legal adviser in numer- 
ous industrial and improvement companies. Thus Mr. 
Hobart is one of the busiest as well as most successful of 
men. Personally lie is endowed with nearly all the graces 
that go to make a man popular with his fellows and useful 
to the State. His temperament is unruffled by any of the 
petty annoyances of everyday life, and it is said of him 




GARRET A. HOBART. 




Hon. Thomas C. Platt. 

Born ill Owego, N. Y., July 15, 1833; studied al Yale College; 
became Piesident of Tioga, N. Y., National Bank, and engaged in 
lumber business in Michigan; elected to Congress, as a Republican, 
1872-74 ; elected to U. S. Senate, January 18, 1881 ; resigned with 
Roscoe Conkling, May, 1881 ; defeated for re-election ; Secretary and 
Director of U. S. Express Co., 1879; President of same since 1880; 
Commissioner of Quarantine, N. Y., 1880-1888; member of Republican 
National Conventions, 1876-80-84-88-92 ; President of Southern Cen- 
tral R. R. since 1888 ; conspicuous in Republican National Convention 
of 1892 as leader of Blaine forces ; an acute and natural party leader 
in New York. 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 489 

that "a frown on his face is as unusual an occurrence as 
a snow storm in July." No man, no matter what his con- 
dition in life, is more easily approached, and the million- 
aire and the laboring man receive the same courteous 
hearing when they call at his o£6ce on public or private 
business. Added to this he has a certain dignity of coun- 
tenance and bearing which adds to rather than detracts 
from the charm of his good-natured smile. His social 
life in Paterson is quiet and without pomp, though both 
he and his charming wife are leaders among the social set. 

By reason of his successes in behalf of his party in the 
State of New Jerse\s and at the bar and in business fields, 
and by virtue of his high standing and large acquaintance 
with national leaders, it could hardly be otherwise than 
that his name should, at an early day, become conspicuous 
in connection with the Vice Presidency. Wherever it 
was broached in this connection it was received with 
favor, and without question as to availability, should the 
nomination fall to the East. No man had accomplished 
more for the party, and on the very field where achieve- 
ment counted for most. No man could bring to the high 
position a longer and stronger list of personal, mental, moral 
and political essentials. He stood forth as the unanimous 
choice of his state delegation, and that was a pleasing augury 
of his success, considering other political circumstances. 

In the national convention at St. Louis, his name, high 
character, preeminent ability, political devotion, and local- 
ity, all pointed to him as a logical running, mate with the 
Ohio statesman who was to become the head of the Re- 
publican ticket. Sentiment in his favor crystallized with 
every hour of the Convention, and when the time came 
for nominations for Vice President, he was an easy leader 
of the field. 
27 



490 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

His name was placed in nomination by his friend, Judge 
J. Franklin Fort, whose language must be here reproduced 
in order to complete a chapter in the life of our subject. 

" Mr. President and gentleman of the convention : I rise 
to present to this convention the claims of New Jersey to 
the Vice Presidency. 

"We come because we feel that we can for the first time 
in our history bring to you a promise that our electoral 
vote will be cast for your nominees. If you comply with 
our request this promise will surely be redeemed. 

" For forty years, through the blackness of darkness of a 
universally triumphant Democracy, the Republicans of 
New Jersey have maintained their organization and fought 
as valiantly as if the outcome were to be assured victory. 
Only twice through all this long period has the sun shone 
in upon us. Yet, through all these weary years, we have, 
like " Goldsmith's Captive," felt that 

"Hope like, the gleaming tapers' light, 
Adonis and cheers our way ; 
And still as darker grows the night. 
Emits a brighter ray." 

" The fulfillment of this hope came in 1894. In that year, 
for the first time since the Republican party came into ex- 
istence, we sent to Congress a solid delegation of eight 
Republicans, and elected a Republican to the United 
States Senate. We followed this in 1895 by electing a 
Republican Governor by a majority of 28,000. And in 
this year of grace we expect to give the Republican elec- 
tors a majority of not less tlian 20,000. 

"I come to you, then, to-day, in behalf of a new New 
Jersey, a politically redeemed and regenerated State. Old 
things have passed away, and behold; all things have 
become new. It is many long years since New Jersey 
has received recognition by a national convention. 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 491 

"When Henry Clay stood for protection in 1844, New 
Jersey furnislied Theodore Freliiighiiysen as his associate. 
The issue tlien was the restoration of ihe taiiff, and was 
more nearly like tliat of to-day than at any other period 
Mhich I can recall in the nation's political history. In 
1856, when the freedom of man bronglit the Republican 
part}' into existence and the great "Pathfinder" was 
called to lead, New Jersey furnished for that unequal con- 
test William L. Dayton astlie Vice Presidential candidate. 
Since then counting for nothing, we have asked for noth- 
ing. During this period Elaine has had a candidate for 
President and a Vice President; Massachusetts a Vice 
President; New York, four Vice Presidents, one of whom 
became President for almost a full term ; Indiana, a Presi- 
dent, a candidate for President and a Vice President , 
Illinois a President twice and a Vice Presidential candi- 
date ; Ohio two Presidents, and now a candidate for the 
third time ; Tennessee a Vice President, who became Presi- 
dent for almost a full term. 

"We believe that the Vice Presidency of 1896 should be 
given to New Jersey. We have reasons for our 
opinion. We have ten electoral votes. We have 
carried the State in the elections of 1893, '94 and 
'95. We hope and believe we can keep the State in the 
Republican column, for all time. By 3'our action to-day you 
can greatly aid us. Do you believe you could accord the 
Vice Presidency to a state more justly entitled to a recog- 
nition or one wliich it would be of more public advantage 
to hold in the Republican ranks? 

" If the party in any State is deserving of approval for 
the sacrifice of its members to maintain its oiganizatinu, 
then tlie Re[)ublicans of New Jersey, in this, the hour of 
their ascendency, after long yeai's of bitter defeat, feel 
that they cannot come to this convention in vain. 



492 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

" We appeal to our bretliren in the South, who know, 
with us, what it is to be overridden by fraud on the ballot 
box, to be counted out by corrupt election officers, to 
be dominated by an arrogant, unrelenting Democracy. 

" We should have carried our State at every election for 
the past ten years if the count had been an honest one. 
We succeeded in throttling the ballot-box stuffersand im- 
l)ris()ning tlie corrupt election officers, only to have the 
whole raft of them pardoned in a day to work again their 
nefarious practices upon the honest people. But to da}^ 
under ballot reform laws, with an honest count, we know 
we can win. It has been a long, terrible strife to the 
goal, but we have reached it unaided and unassisted from 
without, and we come today promising to the ticket here 
selected the vote of New Jersey whetlier you give us the 
Vice Presidential candidate or not. We make it no test of 
our Republicanism that we have a candidate. We have 
been too long used to fighting for principle for that, but 
we do say that you can by granting our request lighten 
our burden and make us a confident party with victory in 
sight even before the contest begins. 

" Will we carry Colorado, Montana and Nevada this year 
if the Democracy declare for silver at 10 to 1? Let 
us hope we may. New Jersey has as many electoral votes 
as these three States together. 

" Will you make New Jersey sure to take their place in 
case of need ? We have in all these years of Republican- 
ism been the " lone star," Democratic star in the North. 
Our forty years of wandering in the wilderness of Democ- 
racy ai'e ended. Our Egyptian darkness disappears. We 
are on the hilltop looking into the promised land. En- 
courage us as we march over into the political Canaan of 
Republicanism, there to remain, b}' giving us a leader on 
the national ticket to go with us. 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 493 

''We are pioiul of our public men. Their Republican- 
ism and love of country have been welded in the furnace 
of political adversity. That man is a Republican vvho 
adheres to the paity in a state where there is no hope for 
the gratification of personal ambitions. There are no 
camp followers in the minority party of any State. They 
are all true soldiers in the militant army, doing valiant 
service without reward, gain or the hope thereof, from 
principle only. 

" A true representative of this class of Republicans, New 
Jersey will offer you to-da3^ He is in the prime of life, 
a never faltering friend, with qualities of leadersliip un- 
surpassed, of sterling honor, of broad mind, of liberal 
views, of wide public information, of great business ca- 
pacity, and withal he is a parliamentarian who would grace 
the Presidency of the Senate of the United States. A 
native of our State, the son of an humble farmer, he was 
reared to love of country in sight of the historic field of 
Monmouth, on which the blood of our ancestors was shed, 
that the republic might exist. From a poor boy, unaided 
and alone he has risen to his renown among us. 

" In our State we have done for him all that the political 
condition would permit. He has been Speaker of our As- 
sembly and President of our Senate. He has been the 
choice for the United States Senator of the Republican 
minorit}^ in the Legislature, and had it been in our power 
to place him in the Senate of the United States he would ere 
this have been there. 

' His capabilities are such as would grace any position 
of honor in the nation. Not for himself, but for our State ; 
not for his ambition, but to give to the nation the highest 
tj'pe of public official, do we come to this convention by the 
command of our State, and, in the name of the Republican 



494 



LIFE OF GARRET A, HOBART. 



party of New Jersey — uiiconquered and unconquerable, 
undivided and indivisible — with our united voice speak- 
ing for all that counts for good citizenship in our State 
nominate to you for the office of Vice President of the 
Republic, Garret A. Hobart, of New Jersey." (Prolonged 
applause.) 

The speech was loudly cheered, the New Yorker's join 
ing with tiie New Jersey men in the nomination. J. (Jtis 
Humphrey, of Illinois, seconded Hobart. 

A single ballot was all that was required to secure Mr, 
Hobart's nomination. It was taken with the following re- 
sult, after which the nomination was made unanimous: 






Hobart, 










533.V 


Evans, 










277i 


Bulkley, 










39" 


Walker, 










24 


Lip])itt, 










8 


Reed, 










3 


Fred Gran 


t,* 








2 


Thurston, 










2 


Depew, 










3 


Brown, 










2 


Morton, 










1 


Absent or 


not voting, 






29 



I 

I 



Total, 



924 



The nomination met with the approbation of the entire 
Republican press of the country, and with that of the 
party in general. Said Mr. Hanna, Chairman of tlie Na- 
tional Committee, speaking for that ])ody and the country: 

" Mr. Hobart's nomination must be gratifying to the 
great body of Republicans throughout the country. In 
personal character and (jualifications for the office he is a 
fit associate for Major McKinley and will bring great 



MFI-: OF GAKUKT A. MOHART. 495 

streiigtli to the ticket. In addition, he is wholly free 
from all factional coni[)lications, a leader within his own 
State and liked best where he is best known. I do not 
see how, under the circumstances, a wiser or better choice 
could have been made." 

One sentiment from the public press will answer for all : 

"Mr. Ilobarthas been a leading force for many years in 
the Legislature and politics of New Jersey. Though a 
lawyer by profession his activities have been largely in 
executive duties and his reputation was gained through 
success in business lines. His winning manners will make 
him friends in the Senate and his experience as Speaker of 
the New Jersey Assen'ibly will stand him in good stead 
when in the chair of the Vice President. Should I'rovi- 
dence see fit to call him to the position of Chief Magis- 
trate he has shown that he possesses the qualifications 
which should carry him through the trying duties of that 
exalted station with credit and success. It is a good 
nomination and gives the Republican party a w^ll balanced, 
harmonious and entirely acceptable ticket." 

On July 7, Mr. Hobart was officially notified- of his 
nomination as Vice President by the Republican National 
Convention. The ceremony took place at his home in 
the presence of an assembly of 3,000 people. TJ;e Chair- 
man of the Notification Committee, ex-Judge Cha:les W 
Fairbanks, said : 

"Mr. Hobart: — The Republican National Convention 
recently assembled at St. Louis commissioned us tc iorm- 
ally notify you of your nomination for the office of Vice 
President of the United States. We are met pursuant to 
the direction of the Convention to perform the agreeable 
duty assigned us. 

" In all the splendid history of the great party which 



496 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

holds our allegiance, the necessit.y was never more urgent 
for steadfast adherence to those wholesome principles 
which have been the sure foundation rock of our national 
prosperity. The demand was never greater for men who 
hold principle above all else and who are unmoved either 
by the clamor of the hour or the promise of false 
teachers. 

"The Convention at St. Louis, in full measure met the 
high demands of the times in its declaration for party 
principles and in the nomination of candidates for Presi- 
dent and Vice President. Yes, the office for which you 
were nominated is of rare dignitj^ honor and power. It 
has l^een graced by the most eminent statesmen who have 
contributed to the upbuilding of the strength and glory 
of the Republic. 

" Because of your exalted personal character and of 
your intelligent and patriotic devotion to the enduring 
principles of a protective tariff, which wisely discriminates 
in favor of American interests, and to a currency whose 
integrity none can challenge, and because of your con- 
spicuous fitness for the exacting and important duties of 
this high office, the Republican National Convention, with 
a unanimity and enthusiasm rarely witnessed, chose you 
as our candidate for Vice President of these United 
States. 

" We know it to be gratifying to you personally to be 
the associate of William McKinley in the pending con- 
test. For you and your distinguished associate we be- 
speak the enthusiastic and intelligent support of all our 
countrymen, who desire that prosperity shall again rule 
throughout the Republic." 

Mr. Hobart responded as follows : 

" I beg to extend to you my grateful acknowledgment?? 



LIFE OP GARRET A. HOBART. 497 

for the very kind and flattering terms in which you con- 
vey the formal announcement of my nomination for Vice 
President of the United States by the Republican National 
Convention at St. Louis. I am profoundly sensible of tlie 
honor which has been done me, and tliruugh me to the 
State in wliich all my life has been spent, in my selection 
as a candidate for this high offi.ce. I ap[)reciate it the 
more because it associates me, in a contest which involves 
the very gravest issues, with one who represents in his 
private character and public career the higliest intelli- 
gence and best spirit of his party, and with whom my 
personal relations are such as to afford a guarantee of per- 
fect accord in the work of the campaign which lies be- 
fore me. 

"It is sufficient for me to say at this time that, con- 
curring without reserve in all the declarations of principle 
and policy embodied in the St. Louis platform, I accept 
the nomination tendered to me with a full appreciation of 
its responsibilities, and with an honest purpose, in the 
event that the people shall ratify the choices made by the 
National Convention, to discharge any duties whicli may 
devolve upon me, with best reference to the public good. 

" Let me add that it will be my earnest effort in the 
coming campaign to contribute in every way possible to 
the success of the party which we represent, and wliich as 
to the important issues of the time stands for the best in- 
terests of the people. 

" Uncertainty or instability as to the money question 
involves most serious consequences to every interest and 
to every citizen of the country. 

" The gravity of this question cannot be overestimated. 
There can be no financial security ; do business stability j 



498 LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. 

no real prosperity where the policy of the Government as 
to that question is at all a matter of doubt. 

"Gold is the one standard of value among all en- 
lightened commercial nations. All financial transactions 
of whatever character, all business enterprises, all in- 
dividual or corporate investments are adjusted to it. An 
honest dollar worth 100 cents everywhere cannot be 
coined out of 53 cents' worth of silver, plus a legislative 
fiat. 

"Such a debasement of our currency would inevitably 
produce incalculable loss, appalling disaster and national 
dishonor. It is a fundamental piinciple in coinage 
recognized and followed b}' all the statesmen of America 
in the past and never yet safely departed from, that there 
can be only one basis upon which gold and silver may be 
concurrently coined as money, and tliat basis is equality, 
not in weight, but in the commercial value of the metal 
contained in the respective coins. This commercial value 
is fixed b}- the markets of the world with which the great 
interests of our country are necessarily connected by in- 
numerable business ties, which cannot be severed or 
ignored. Great and self-reliant as our country is, it is 
great not alone within its own borders and upon its own 
resources, but because it also reaches out to the ends of 
the earth in all the manifold departments of business, ex- 
change and Qommerce, and must maintain with honor 
the standinof and credit among the nations of the earth. 

"The question admits of no compromise. It is a vital 
principle at stake, but it is in no sense partisan or sec- 
tional. It concerns all the people. Ours, as one of the 
foremost nations, must have a monetary standard equal to 
the best. 

'' It is of vital consequence that this question should be 



LIFE OF GARRET A. HOBART. ' 499 

settled now in such a way as (o restore public confidence 
here and everywhere in tiie integrity of our purpose. A 
doubt of that integrity among the other great commercial 
countries of the world will not only cost us millions of 
money, but that which, as patriots, we shd'uld treasure 
still more higlily — our industrial and commercial suprem- 
acy. 

"iMy estimate of the value of a protective policy has 
been formed by the study of the object lessons of a great 
industrial State, extending over a period of thirty years. 
It is that protection not only builds up important indus- 
tries from small beginnings, but that these and all other 
industries flourish or languish in proportion as protection 
is maintained or Avithdrawn. I have seen it indisputably 
proved that the prosperity of farmer, merchant and all 
other classes of citizens goes hand in hand with that of 
the manufacturer and mechanic. 

"I am firmly persuaded that what we need most of all 
to remove the business paralysis that afflicts this country, 
is the restoration of a policy which, while affording ample 
revenue to meet the expenses of the Government, will re- 
open American workshops on full time and full handed, 
with their operatives paid good wages in honest dollars. 
And this can only come under a tariff which will hold the 
interests of our own people paramount in our political and 
commercial systems. 

" T])e opposite policy which discourages American 
enterprise reduces American labor to idleness, diminishes 
the earnings of American workingmen, opens our markets 
to commodities from abroad which Ave should produce at 
home, while closing foreign markets against our products 
and which, at the same time, steadily augments the public 
debt, increasing the public burdens, while diminishing the 



500 Life of gauret a. hobart. 

ability of the people to meet them, is a policy which must 
find its chief popularity elsewhere than among American 
citizens. 

" I shall take an eaily opportunity, gentlemen of the 
committee, through you to communicate to my fellow- 
citizens with somewhat more of detail my views concern- 
ing the dominant questions of the hour and the crisis 
which confronts us as a nation. 

" With this brief expression of my appreciation of the 
distinguished honor that has been bestowed upon me, and 
this signification of my acceptance of the trust to which I 
have been summoned, I place mj'self at the service of the 
Republican party and of the country." 



THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1896. 



The Republicans of the United States, assemhled by 
their representatives in national convention, appealing for 
the popular and historical jurisdiction of their claims to 
the matchless achievements of thirty years of Republican 
rule, earnestly and confidently address themselves to tlie 
awakened intelligence, experience and conscience of their 
countrymen in the following declaration of facts and 
principles : 

For the first time since the Civil War the American 
people have witnessed the calamitous consequences of 
full and unrestricted Democratic control of the Govern- 
ment. It has been a record of unparalleled incapacity, dis- 
honor and disaster. In administrative management it has 
ruthlessly sacrificed indispensible revenue, entailed an un- 
cea>iiig deficit, eked out ordinary current expenses with 
borrowed money, piled up the public debt by '5^:^62,000,000 
in time of peace, forced an adverse balance of trade, kept 
a perpetu.d menace hanging over the redemption fund, 
pawned Anipriean credit to alien syndicates and re- 
versed all the measures and results of successful Republi- 
can rule. Ill t!ie broad effort of its policy it has precipi- 
tated panic, blighted industry and trade with prolonged 
depression, closed factories, reduced work and wages, 
halted enterprise and crippled American production, 
while stimulating foreign production for the American 
market. Every consideration of public safet}- and indi- 
vidual interest demands that the Government shall be 
rescued from the hands of those who have shown them- 

(501) 



502 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM, 

selves incapable to conduct it without disaster at home 
and dishonor abroad, and shall be restored to the party 
which for thirty years administered it with unequalled 
success and prosperity; and in this connection we heartily 
indorse the wisddui, patriotism and the success of the Ad- 
ministration of President Harrison. 



The Tariff Plank. 

We renew and emphasize our allegiance to thepolic}?- 
protection as tlie bulwark of American industrial inde- 
pendence and the foundation of American development 
and prosperity. This true American policy taxes foreign 
products and encourages home industry; it puts the 
burden of revenue on foreign goods; it secures the 
American market for tlie American producer; it upholds 
the American standard of wages for the American vvork- 
ingman ; it puts the factory by the side of the farm and 
makes the American farmer less dependent on foreign de- 
mand and price ; it diffuses general thrift, and founds the 
strength of all on the strength of each. In its reasonable 
application it is just, fair and impai'tial, equally opjiosed 
to foreign control and domestic monopoly, to sectional 
discrimination and individual favoritism. 

We denounce the present Democratic tariff as sectional, 
injurious to the public credit and destructive to business 
enterprise. We demand such an equitable tariff on 
foreign imports which come into competition with Ameri- 
can products as will not only furnish adequate revenue for 
ihe necessary expenses of the Government, but will pro- 
tect American labor from degradation to the wage level 
of other lands. We are not pledged to any particular 
schedules. The question of rates is a practical question, 
to be governed by the conditions of the time and of pro- 
duction ; the ruling and uncompromising principle is the 
protection and development of American labor and in- 
dustry. The country demands aright,settlementand tlien 
it wants rest. 



THE REPUBLICAN rLxVTFOllM. 503 

Reciprocity Indorsed. 

We believe the repeal of the reciprocity airfiugements 
negotiated by the last Republican Administration as a 
national calannt}--, and we demand the renewal and ex- 
tension on such terms as will equalize our trade with 
other nations, remove the restrictions which now obstruct 
the sale of American products in the ports of other coun- 
tries, and secure enlarged markets for tlie products of our 
farms, forests and factories. 

Protection and reciprocity are twin measures of Repub- 
lican policy and go hand in hand. Democratic rule has 
recklessly struck down both, and both must be reestab- 
lished. 

Protection for what we produce ; free admission fur the 
necessaries of life which we do not produce ; reciprocal 
agreements of mutual interests, which gain open markets 
for us in return for our open market to others. Protec- 
tion builds up domestic industry and trade and secures 
our own market for ourselves; reciprocity builds up for- 
eign trade and finds an outlet for our surplus. 

We condemn the present administration for not keeping 
faith with the sugar producei'S of this country. The Re- 
pul)lican party favors such protection as will lead to the 
production on American soil of all the sugar which the 
American people use, and for which they pay other coun- 
tries more than .$100,000,000 annually. 

To all our products — to those of the mine and the 
field, as well as to those of the shop and the factory — to 
hemp, to wool, the product of the great industr}^ of sheep 
husbandry, as well as to the finished woolens of the mill — 
we pi'omise the most ample protection. 

We favor restoring the early American policy of discrim- 
inating duties for the upbuilding of our merchant marine 
and the protection of our shipping in the foreign carrying 
trade, so that American ships — the product of American 
labor, employed in American ship yards, sailing under the 
Stars and Stripes, and manned, officered and owned by 
Americans — may regain the carrying of our foreign com- 
merce. 



604 the republican platform. 

For Gold Standard. 

The Republican party is unreservedly for sound money. 
It caused the enactment of the law providing for the re- 
sumption of specie payments in 1879. Since then every 
dollar has been as good as gold. 

We are unalterably opposed to every measure calculated 
to debase our currency or impair the credit of our country. 
We are, therefore, opposed to the free coinage of silver 
except by international agreement with the leading com- 
mercial nations of the world, which we pledge ourselves 
to promote, and until such agreement can be obtained the 
existing gold standard must be preserved. All our silver 
and paper currency must be maintained at parity with 
gold, and we favor all measures designed to maintain in- 
violable the obligations of all our money, whether coin or 
paper, at the present standard — the standard of the most 
enlightened nations of the earth. 

The Pension Question. 

The veterans of the Union Army deserve and should re- 
ceive fair treatment and generous recognition. Wherever 
practicable they should be given the preference in the mat- 
ter of employment, and they are entitled to the enactment 
of such laws as are best calculated to secure the fulfill- 
ment of tlie pledges made to them in the dark days of the 
country's peril. We denounce the practice in the Pension 
Bureau, so recldessly and imjustly carried on by the pres- 
ent Administration, of reducing pensions and arbitrarily 
dropping names from the rolls, as deserving the severest 
condemnation of the American people. 

Our Foreign Policy. 

Our foreign policy should be at all times firm, vigorous 
and dignified, and all our interests in the Western Hemis- 
phere carefully watched and guarded. The Hawaiian Is- 
lands should be controlled liy the United States, and no 
foreign power should be permitted tu interfere with them. 
The Nicaraguan Canal should be built, owned and operated 




Hon. James K. Jones. 

Born in Marshall co., Miss., Sept. 29, 1839; educated in classics and 
law; served in Confederate army; a planter till 1873; began law prac- 
tice at Washington, Arkansas, and elected to State Senate in 1873 ; re- 
elected in 1877, and became President of the body ; elected, as Democr.it, 
to 47th, 48th and 49th Congresses; elected to U. S. Senate in 1884; re- 
elected in 1890; term expires Maixh 3, 1897; member of Committees 
on Senate Expenses, Finance, Indian Affiiirs, Irrigation, etc. 




Hon. SxEi'iiEN li. Elkins. 

Born in Perry co., Ohio, September 26, 1841 ; graduated from Uni- 
versity of Missouri, 1860; admitted to bar, 1863; practiced in New 
Mexico for several years; elected to Territorial Legislature in 1866, and 
soon after made Attorney-General of Territory ; appointed U. S. District 
Attorney in 1868 ; elected Delegate to Congress, 1873 ; re-elected in 
1875; Delegate to Republican National Conventions, 1884, 1888; large 
business and bnnking interests in Santa Fe, also large land owner- 
moved to West Virginia, and extensively engaged in mining, timber, 
railroad and banking interests; appointed, by President Harrison 
Secretary of War, December 17, 1891; elected to U. S. Senate as a 
Republican, 1894; Chairman of Select Committee on Geological Survey, 
and member of Committees on Civil Service, Commerce. Military 
Affairs, Railroads and Territories. 



THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 507 

by the United States, and by tlie purchase of the Danish 
Ishinds we shoukl secure a proper and much-needed naval 
station in the West Indies. 

The massacres in Armenia have aroused the deep sym- 
patliy and just indignation of the American people, and 
we believe tliat the United States should exercise all the 
influence it can properly exert to bring these atrocities to 
an end. In Turkey American residents liave been exposed 
to the gravest dangers, and American property destroyed. 
There and everywhere American citizens and American 
property must be absolutely protected at all hazards and 
at any cost. 

The Monroe Doctrine. 

We reassert the Monroe Doctrine in its full extent, and 
we reaffirm the right of the United States to give the doc- 
trine effect by responding to the appeals of any American 
State for intervention in case of European encroachment. 
We have not interfered and shall not interfere with the 
existing possessions of any European power in this hemis- 
phere, but those possessions must not, on any pretext, be 
extended. We hopefully look forward to the eventual 
withdrawal of the European powers from this hemispliere, 
and to the ultimate union of all English speaking parts of 
the continent by the free consent of its inhabitants. 

! Sympathy for Cuba. 

From the hour of achieving their own independence the 
people of the United States have regarded with sympathy 
the struggle of other American peoples to free themselves 
from European domination. We watch witli deep and 
abiding interest the heroic battle of the Cuban patriots 
ngainst cruelty and oppression, and our best hopes go out 
for the full success of their determined contest for liberty. 

The Government of Spain, having lost control of Cuba, 
And being unable to protect the property or lives of resi- 
dent American citizens, or to comply with its treaty obli- 
gations, we believe that the Government of the United 
28 



508 THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 

States should actually use its influence and good offices to 
restore peace and give independence to the island. 

The peace and security of the Republic and tlie main- 
tenance of its rightfnl influence among the nations of the 
earth demand a naval power connneiisurate with its posi- 
tion and responsibility. We, therefore, favor the continued 
enlargement of the navy and a complete system of harbor 
and sea cost defenses. 

Educational Test of Immigrants. 

For the protection of the quality of our American citi- 
zenship and of the wages of our workingmen against the 
fatal competition of low-priced labor, we demand tliat the 
immigration laws be thoroughly enforced, and so extended 
as to exclude from entrance to the United States those who 
can neither read nor write. 

The civil service law was placed on the statute book by 
the Republican party, which has always sustained it, and 
we renew our repeated declarations that it shall be 
thoroughly and honestly enforced and extended wherever 
practicable. 

We demand that every citizen of the United States 
shall be allowed to cast one free and unrestricted ballot, 
and, that such ballot shall be counted and returned as cast. 

We proclaim our unqualified condemnation of the un- 
civilized and barbarous practice well known as lynching 
or killing of human beings suspected or charged with 
crime without process of law. 

National Arbitration Board. 

We favor the creation of a national board of arbitration 
to settle and adjust differences which may arise between 
employers and employees engaged in interstate couimerce. 

We believe in an immediate return to the free home- 
stead polic}' of the Republican party , find urge the pas- 
sage by Congress of the satisfactory ifree homestead meas- I 
ure which has already passed the House and is now pend- ^ 
ing in the Senate. 



THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM. 609 

We favor the adinissioii of the remauiiiig Territories at 
the earliest practical date, liaving due regard to the inter- 
ests of the people of the Territories and of tlie United 
States. All the Federal officers appointed for the Terri- 
toiies should be elected from bona-fide residents thereof, 
and the right of self-government should be accorded as far 
as practicable. 

We believe the citizens of Alaska should have represen- 
tation in the Congress of the United States, to the end 
that needful legislation may be intelligently enacted. 

We sympathize with all wise and legitimate efforts to 
lessen and prevent the evils of intemperance and promote 
morality. 

Rights of Women. 

The Republican party is mindful of the rights and in- 
terests of women. Protection of American industries in- 
cludes equal opportunities, equal pay for equal work, and 
protection to the home. We favor the admission of women 
to wider spheres of usefulness, and we welcome their co- 
operation in rescuing the country from Democratic and 
Populist mismanagement and misrule. 

Such are the principles and policies of the Republican 
jiarty. By these principles we will abide and these policies 
we will put into execution. We ask for them the consid- 
erate judgment of the American people. Confident alike 
in the history of our great party and in the justice of our 
cause, we present our platform and our candidates in the 
full assurance that the election will bring victory to the 
Republican party and prosperity to the people of the 
United States. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 
BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 



William Jennings Bryan, popularly known as the 
" Boy Orator of the Platte," was born in the town of 
Salem, Marion County, Illinois, March 19, 1860. His 
lineage is thoroughly Democratic. His father was Silas 
L. Bryan, who was born in Culpepper County, Va., at 
the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He came to Illi- 
nois when eighteen years of age, and settled finally at 
Salem. He was a graduate at McKendrie College, I^eba- 
non. 111., and began the practice of law. In 1852 he was 
elected State Senator, and served eight years. He was 
elected, in 1860, Circuit Judge, and served until 1872. 
He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 
1870, and there introduced a resolution that all officers 
created by the constitution, should be elected by the 
people. In 1870 he was Democratic candidate for Con- 
gress, and was defeated by 240 votes, by James S. Martin. 
He was a strong man intellectually, and was a good pub- 
lic speaker. He died in 1880. He was married to Maria 
Elizabeth Jennings, at Salem, in 1852. They had nine 
children, of whom five are living. W. J. is the fourth. 
Mrs. Bryan died in Salem, in 1896. 

The family residence was on a farm just outside of the 
town limits, and it was there that the son William passed 
his early youth, amid rural scenes and the arts of hus- 
bandry. His education began in the common schools of 
510 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 511 

the town, and to facilitate this, he came to spend much 
of his time within the reach of the schools, the rest being 
spent on the farm. 

By the time he reached the age of fifteen years, he had 
completed his common school education, and, in the fall 
of 1875, he entered Whipple Academy, at Jacksonville, 
Illinois. After an academic course, extending over two 
years, he was prepared to enter Illinois College, at Jack- 
sonville, which he did in 1877, matriculating in the 
Freshman Class. As a collegian, he proved to be an apt 
and earnest and assiduous student, and, early in his 
course, gave promise of those forensic powers which were 
to bring him speedy National distinction. In 1880, while 
a Senior, he won second prize as the representative of 
his college in the State collegiate oratorical contest at 
Galesburg. 

He graduated from his college in 1881, with the high- 
est honors of his class, and, by virtue of this rank, he 
became the class valedictorian. After leaving college, 
young Bryan went to Chicago, where he entered the 
Union Law College of that city. At the same time he 
entered the law office of Senator Lyman Trumbull, for 
the double purpose of assisting in his own education, 
and acquiring a knowledge of the practice of law along 
with its theories. 

This course imposed upon him a double duty, but he 
had physical strength, mental ability and energy of pur- 
pose equal to even a harder task, and he ended his two 
years of law study with honors. He was now thoroughly 
equipped for his profession, and he entered upon it at 
Jacksonville, 111., soon after his admission to the bar, in 
1883. 



5l2 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BKYAN. 

IN PUBLIC LIFE. 

The young attorney prospered in his profession from 
the start, for he added to careful preparation all the 
energies and ambitions of youth, a cordial disposition, 
pleasing manners, and a most persuasive eloquence. He 
found at Jacksonville an attraction in the person of Miss 
Mary E. Baird, a young lady who had been a student in 
the seminary there while he was attending college. He 
made her his wife, and the two lived happily at Jackson- 
ville till the year 1.S87. Even before this date, Mr. Bryan 
had begun to indulge his rhetorical powers in the politi- 
cal discussions of his vicinity, and every one recognized 
in him a disputant of pre-eminent ability, considering his 
youth. 

In the autumn of 1887, he went on a business trip to 
the State of Nebraska, and, while there, he became 
impressed with the greater opportunities, the newer and 
more rapidly developing West offered to a young man of 
his aspirations and qualifications. So, in the same year, 
he moved to the State, and settled at Lincoln, the Capi- 
tal, where he opened a law office with Mr. Talbot, the 
firm name being Talbot & Bryan. 

This move proved to be auspicious. It brought him a 
profitable clientage, and, at the same time, opened for 
him, almost as if by magic, a political career which, for 
speed and splendor, stands without parallel. In less than 
half a year after his advent in Lincoln, he entered on his 
first political effort as delegate to the Democratic State 
Convention,which met at Omaha, in May, 1888, to choose 
delegates to the National Convention at St. Louis. Dur- 
ing an interlude in the proceedings, when something was 
needed to break monotony, some of his friends called on 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 5] 3 

him for a speech, by way of divertisement. The call was 
sudden, and the opportunity was by no means a favorable 
one for forensic display, but the young orator made the 
most of the occasion. He soon awakened the tired and 
sleepy audience to a realizing sense of his magnetic 
powers, and, ere long, had it completely in his grasp. 
Devoting himself exclusively to the tariflf, then, an all- 
absorbing issue with the Nebraska people, he brought 
the vast audience to its feet with responsive cheer after 
cheer. The strength of his logic and arguments, com- 
bined with his brilliancy and eloquence, was irresistible, 
and he, there and then, laid a firm foundation for a State 
reputation. 

So commanding, indeed, were the talents of this 
remarkable young man, that the very next year he was 
offered the Democratic nomination for Ivieutenant-Gov- 
ernor. This he declined, but he took an active part in 
the campaign, making in all more than fifty speeches. 

Meantime J. Sterling Morton, at the election of 1888, 
had been defeated for Congress by his Republican oppo- 
nent, W. J. Connell, by more than 3,000 majority, 
although the district, two years before, had given a Dem- 
ocratic majority of nearly 7,000. There was need of a 
new Moses, and the younger Democrats of the district 
decided that Bryan was the man to lead them. 

When he was offered the Congressional nomination, 
in 1890, Connell being a candidate for re-election, Bryan 
said : 

"Of course there is no show for an election, but I will 
make the race and do my best." 

Only thirty years old at the time, he put all his might 
into the fight. 



514 LIFE OF AVILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

" I will advocate the Democratic principle of tariS 
reform on every stump in the district," he said, and he 
carried out his words. It was a herculean labor, for the 
district was made up of nine counties, and polled a total 
vote of more than 72,000. 

The old-time politicians took no interest in the battle, 
as they looked upon it as lost at the outset, and they 
were more than niggardly in furnishing the sinews of 
war. But the younger Democrats were more than zeal- 
ous, and by their vigorous efforts fully made up for the 
lack of campaign funds. 

Mr. Bryan was then, as now, a comparatively poor 
man, and his campaign expenses were limited to less 
than |400. But the greatest interest was aroused, and 
Mr. Bryan's tour became one long ovation. The Repub- 
licans had submitted a prohibition amendment to the 
State constitution, and the Democrats, in their platform, 
had declared against prohibition. Lincoln and Omaha, 
the largest cities in the State, were in the district, and, 
in them, the Republicans lost heavily on the temperance 
issue. 

A striking feature of the campaign was the challenge 
issued by the Democratic Committee to Cornell to dis- 
cuss the issues of the day in joint debate with Mr. Bryan. 
They did not really expect that Connell would be rash 
enough to accept, but hoped to make political capital 
out of his refusal . Connell, however, flattered by former 
successes in haranguing helpless juries, accepted the 
challenge. 

Mr. Bryan then showed that he was not only his adver- 
sary's superior in oratory, but also his master in matters 
of fact. Thoroughly familiar with the subjects to be 



LIFE OF AVILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 515 

discussed, he was equipped with statistical and historical 
information, and was ever ready to meet the points of 
his opponent on economic as well as political grounds. 

From the outset, his advantage was so marked tb.nt 
Connell's friends recommended him to find j-ome excuse 
to draw out of the contest, but with more persistence 
than discretion, he refused to hearken to their advice, 
and when the votes were counted, it was found that he 
had been snowed under by a majority of nearly 7,0(KI. 

A winning so large as this, and accomplished so dis- 
tinctly upon the issue of tariff-reform, made Mr. Bryan, 
when the House was organized, an eminently worthy 
man for recognition in the making up of the Ways and 
Means Committee, as a representative of the West. 
Although a new-comer in Congress, he was appointed 
without protest on the part of any one. The wisdom of 
Speaker Crimp's judgment was shown when Mr. Bryan 
made his first speech. It was a brilliant plea for tariff- 
reform, and made the biggest hit of the debate. 

The House was in confusion when he began speaking, 
but, in five minutes, every Democratic leader sat about 
him, listening intently. The Republicans soon paid the 
young orator the same compliment, the galleries began 
to fill up, and the crowd remained until he had finished. 

Some of the Republicans sought to take advantage of 
his inexperience by interrupting him with questions that 
might have puzzled much older heads. But Mr. Bryan 
brightened under this friction, and forced one Republi- ' 
can after another into his seat, all of them finding the 
young Nebraskan more than their match. He argued 
his case with a dramatic directness that aroused not only 
the enthusiasm of the Democrats, but won the applause 
of the galleries. 



616 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

Pie won his first cheers by a characteristic piece of 
wit. 

" There was once a time in the history of Nebraska," 
he said, " wlien there was a sheep there for ever}' person 
in the State. But now, if every woman in Nebraska 
named Mary wanted a pet lamb, she would have to go out 
of the State to get it." 

The peroration of that speech is worth quoting, for it 
shows tersely the stand Mr. Bryan has taken on the 
tariff question all through his public career. It is as 
follows : 

" The country has notliing to fear from the Democratic 
policy upon the tariff question. It means a more equal 
distribution of the great advantages of this country. It 
means that the men wlio produce the wealth shall retain 
a larger share of it. It means that enterprise shall be 
employed in natural and profitable industries, not in un- 
natural and unsuitable industries. It means more constant 
enij)loyment for labor and better pay. It means tlie 
'maximum of product for the minimum of toil.' It 
means commerce with other countries and ships to carry 
on that commerce. It means prosperity everywhere and 
not by piecemeal. 

" It is for this reason that 3'oung men of this country 
are coming to the Democratic party, as Mr. Clarkson, that 
higli Republican authority, declared. It is because we 
are right, and right will triumph. The day will come, 
and that soon,T trust, when wiser economic policies will 
prevail than those to which- tlie Republican party is 
wedded ; when the laws in this country will be made for 
all and not for a few ; when those who annually congre- 
gate about this capital, seeking to use the taxing power 



LIFE OP WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 517 

for purposes of private gain, will liave lost their occupa- 
tion; when the burdens of government will be equally 
distributed and its blessings likewise. 

" Hail that day ! When it comes, to use the language 
of another, ' Democracy will be King. Long live the 
King!'" 

At the end of that speech the members of the House 
no longer questioned the ability of the young man just 
come among them. Natures that had been prone to dis- 
count the youthful interloper from Nebraska recovered 
from their error with no farther delay. 

Of the hundred and more young members who then 
appeared in the Fifty-second Congress, he was the young- 
est. Only a few months previous he had celebrated his 
thirty-first birthday. Bryan attracted little or no atten- 
tion. To the men even from the West his ability was 
unknown. He was looked upon as one of the accidents 
of politics. 

He was guilty of the crime of being a 3'oung man. He 
could not deny it. It was indelibly written all over his 
smooth, clear-cut face ; was revealed in the sparkle of his 
dark brown eyes, and was undeniably betrayed in his first 
speech, which was side-tracked to the Congressional 
Record without being delivered. Put aside by the leaders, 
wlio deny any latitude to inexperience, he sat day after 
day in his seat, watching parliamentary tricks and sub- 
tleties and mentally collecting knowledge of men and 
affairs, which he used with surprising tact and force when 
his opportunity came. 

His years were betrayed only in his face and his sup- 
pressed speech. He looked the statesman and dressed 
with fitting dignity. In season and out, defying even tlie 
tropical sun of the long August days in the capital, he 



518 LIFE OF WILLIAM JEJSJMiJSGS BUYAN. 

appeared in a long black Prince Albeit, black cravat and 
black trousers, which showed no signs of tailor's atten- 
tion. 

He was punctual in his attendance, sat throughout the 
long sessions and then went home. A dress suit he did 
not own ; nor had he any ambition to possess one. The 
allurenients of society, the official functions, the Senatorial 
teas and the Congressional junkets he put aside as pitfalls 
to be avoided bj* a man who came from a district norniall}' i 
Republican, with probably only two years to serve, and 
with every incentive for a prudent man, suddenly raised 
from a yearly income of next to nothing, to $5,000 to save 
enough so that when he got back to his dusty lawyer's 
desk, empty of briefs, he could provide for his family un- 
til his profession brought him substantial returns. 

Bryan made friends even with his great handicap of 
youth and inexperience. He had a charm of manner that 
Avon him recognition and invited confidence. Judge Crisp 
Avas impressed with the promise in the young, smooth- 
shaven member from the Valley of the Platte. He had 
helped Crisp in Ins canvass for the Speakership, and Crisp 
put him on the important Ways and Means Committee — 
an exceptional honor, which, while it gave him a standing, 
exposed the Speaker to much criticism. 

But Bryan justified the judgment of the brilliant 
Georgian, although not until late in the session. He was 
heard at last and the speech he delivered — on the tariff — 
will be remembered and compared with the brilliant ora- 
tory of Bourke Cockran, against whom he was pitted in 
defence of silver at a later date. The debate on one of 
Springer's popgun bills had run on for weeks. It had 
ceased to attract the public or to interest the House. 
Along toward the close of an April afternoon, when tlie 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 619 

galleiies were clear, the doorkeepers dozing in tlieir chairs ,' 
and the members present were exchanging stories between 
cigar puffs, Bryan arose. He pulled from his inside 
jioeket a few slips of paper on whicli were scribbled notes. 
He luid scarcely spoken twenty words before the members 
began to lean over the rail to listen, and the doorkeepers 
roused from their slumbers. 

Bryan was pale and cool ; there Avas a slight tremor in 
his voice. He began to speak over the heads of the mem- 
bers. . A pretty young woman in a neat brown dress had 
entered the gallery as he began. The young woman was 
his wife. He was speaking to her, looking to her, no 
doubt for confidence. 

Bryan's rich strong voice, melodious in tone, filled the 
chamber. The members who had first leaned over the 
rail to listen, had taken seats, and for an hour Bryan 
spoke, introducing metaphors and stories which were 
singularly apt and convincing. Reed and several otlier 
Republicans regarded him with curiosity. They could 
scarcely realize that the young man possessed such powers 
of orator}'. For months he had sat silent in his seat. Ta 
test him, Reed interrupted with questions, but Bryan 
was not to be confused or rattled or led away from tlie 
thread of his speech. 

When he had concluded and the cheering had subsided, 
Reed was the first to cross the nisle and grasp his hand. 
Reed's example was followed. Every member, Democrat 
and Republican, moved up in procession to Bryan's seat 
and shook his hand. From that moment Bryan had a 
standing, commanded notice and exerted a strong in- 
fluence. 

No one sneered at Bryan after that, and there were few 
who dared to risk the discomfort of tackling the lithe 



520 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN". 

Westerner who was so quick and nimble on his mental 
feet. 

All through that Congress — the Fifty-second — Bryan 
was one of the most prominent figures in the House, al- 
though he was its youngest member. He devoted limit- 
less time to tariff reform, and when he went back to Ne- 
braska it was with the knowledge that he had fought a 
good fight. 

When he stood for reelection to the Fifty-third Con- 
gress his opponent was Allen W. Field. Conditions had 
changed greatly in the district, and after a desperate con- 
test Bryan won by a scant plurality of 140 in a total vote 
of 30,000. 

He reentered Congress to fight a new battle, for he at 
once joined the free silver forces, led by Mr. Bland, whose 
first lieutenant he became. He had sided with Mr. Bland 
in the previous Congress, but it was not until now that he 
became an out-and out silver leader. Before that it had 
been thought he favored free coinage because of a sup- 
posed strong sentiment among his constituents favorable 
to this legislation. But now he showed that his heart and 
soul were in the cause. 

His speech against the repeal of the Sherman Sil- 
ver Coinage Act was one of the most remarkable ever 
heard in the House. For three hours he held the close 
attention of the largest audience, both on the floor and in 
the galleries, drawn to the Capitol during that session. 
The oldest members of the House followed the speech 
with even more respectful interest than had been accorded 
to Mr. Bland's speech a few days before, and Mr. Bryan "s 
more attractive personality and his captivating eloquence 
fixed the attention of hundreds present who were less in- 
terested in the issue discussed. 



LIFE OP WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 521 

After this speech a prumiiieiit Democratic member, an 
administration man, pulled Bryan into a chair in the 
House lobby and said : 

" Bryan, it is a pity that a man of your great ability 
should sacrifice himself to the silver cause, which offers 
no future. Whatever there is of credit to any one in ad- 
vocating it. Bland has. Come East and we will make a 
President of you." 

But Bryan laughed and replied: ''No matter about 
the credit, I believe in free silver. I would rather go back 
to Nebraska if it fails than to come East and put aside my 
principles, no matter what the inducement." 

When the end of his second term in Congress ap- 
proached Bryan declined a renomination, saying he pro- 
posed to return to Nebraska to practice law. It was not 
long, however, before he was announced as the editor-in- 
chief of the World Herald of Omaha, in which he was 
to advocate the free and unlimited coinage of silver, and 
incidentally, it was said, to promote his candidacy for the 
United States Senate. Another feature of his manage- 
ment was to be a hostility to the administration and all 
that partook of Clevelandism. 

Mr. Bryan took hold September 1, 1894, and all went 
well until the Nebraska Republican State Central Coni- 
mitte made a contract by which it should control two 
columns in the editorial pages. Mr. Bryan found that tlie 
Republicans were using their space to publish matter det- 
rimental to his Senatorial project and he made a fight in 
the court, which was decided in favor of his enemies. 

Bryan's aspirations were blasted by the election of John 
M. Thurston to the Senate, and the silver-tongued young 
orator retired to private life as an "ex-Congressman." 

He still continued, however, to advocate in every way 



522 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BR VAN. 

the free coinage of silver, and made frequent trips through 
the West and South advocating it. In 1895, he spoke in 
Birmingham, Ala. As he closed Prof. H. P. Burris, the 
local leader of the Populists, asked him if he would sup- 
'port a Democrat who held the views of Cleveland and 
Carlisle, if nominated on a gold platform b}' the Demo- 
crats this year. With great emphasis he replied : 

"Nothing in heaven above, on the earth below or in 
hell beneath, could make me support a gold standard can- 
didate on a gold standard platform." 

Just before the Chicago Convention, when asked if he 
would accept a compromise on the silver question by the 
Chicago Convention, he said : 

"No compromise on the silver question is either to be 
desired or tolerated. Every State which has declared for 
silver has adopted a platform which declares for free and 
unlimited coinage of both gold and silver at the present 
legal ratio of 16 to 1 without waiting for the aid or con- 
sent of any other nation on earth, and this will be the 
substance of the Chicago declaration. 

" Tlie silver Democrats have fought against great odds ; 
tliey have had to contend against the world, the flesh and 
the devil, but they have won the fight. 

'•The success of our cause is due to the support it has 
found among the common people, and any attempt to 
modify or weaken the position already taken in the silver 
States would rob the campaign of its enthusiasm and sub- 
ject the delegates to the charge of having betrayed their 
constituents." 

Personaltsm and Home Life.. 
A friend who called on Mr. and Mrs. Bryan at the 




WILLIAM J. BRYAN, 




ARTHUR SHWALL. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BEYAN. 525 

Clifton hotel, just after lie had received the iionunation, 
thus sketched the pair : 

"Mr. Bryan's handsome head was bent over a writing 
desk his dark hair fell back from a broad, white brow, his 
veiled eyes followed the lightninglike movements of his 
pencil, and he looked like the embodiment of strength, 
courage, decision and noble manhood. Mrs. Bryan stood 
beside him, a fit companion for the man. She is tall, 
dark-haired, with a clear complexion and a fi.ne figure. In 
relation to her early life Mrs. Bryan said: 

".'I was Mary Elizabeth Baird and I was born in Pike 
County, 111., and in 1881 was graduated with the highest 
honors of my class from the Young Ladies' School, at 
Jacksonville, 111. 

" ' In 1884 I was married to Mr. Bryan and during the 
twelve years of our married life three children have joined 
our family circle. Our home is just the ideal spot on 
earth. My eldest daughter, Ruth, is eleven years of age. 
My boy, William J. Bryan, Jr., is seven, and my bab}- girl 
is five, and we are, indeed, a happy family. 

"'I am hardly what one would call a society woman,' 
said Mrs. Bryan. 'I am president of the Lincoln Sorosis 
Club and take a keen interest in everything that pertains 
to the advancement of woman. I am not an avowed 
woman suffragist. 

" ' I want everything that will broaden, elevate and uplift 
women and make them better wives, mothers, sisters and 
companions. If, after careful investigation, I find that 
the ballot is necessary to bring about this development, I 
shall be in favor of woman suffrage. 

'^ ' I play the piano only for the amusement of my little 
family. I can swim, and I am just taking ni}^ first lessons 
'ju a wheel. I love good literature and endeavor to keep 
29 



526 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BEYAN. 

niyself posted on the principal topics of the day. In 1887 
I took a course of law at Union College, Chicago, and was 
admitted to the bar. I did not do this with a view to go- 
ing into the general practice of law, but to bring myself 
in touch with my husband's work. 

" ' I do not read much law at present, for since Mr. Bryan 
became so deeply interested in politics I have given most 
of my attention to educating myself in tliis direction 
I have been in attendance at the convention every day 
and have enjoyed every moment of it. It has been glori- 
ous, hasn't it '/ The enthusiasm is so delightfully inspir- 
ing. Of course, I am more pleased than I can express at 
the liunur which has been bestowed upon ni}^ husband, and 
I feel unbounded confidence in his ability to win a great 
victory.' " 

As to Mrs. Bryan's appearance the visitor continued : 

"She must be seen, and when she is seen she must smile 
in order to bring out the perfect sweetness of her face. 
She is a woman of medium height. Her complexion is 
fair, her hair is a light brown and her eyes, the chief 
charm of her face, are dark bluish gray, outlined with 
heavy dark lashes. She was dressed in a becoming cos- 
tume of dark blue cashmere, trimmed with delicate touches 
of white honiton braid. A small dark turban completed 
a neat street costume and made her appear just what the 
great American people will find her to be, a thoroughly 
womanly woman, gracious, kind, companionable, and a 
woman capable of presiding with dignity over the great 
mansion that shelters the master of the White House." 

With full faith in his own ability, he naturally looks 
liopefully toward a favorable destiny. Two months before 
his nomination, lie said to an intimate friend: 

" I think I shall be the next President of the United 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BKYAN. 527 

States. I am confident that 1 shall be nominated in 
Chicago, and if nominated, I am sure I shall be elected. I 
think McKinley will be the Republican nominee, and he 
can be beaten. It is a matter 1 have never said much 
about, but I believe in destiny, and ever since I was four- 
teen years of age I have felt that I was destined to rise to 
aposition of prominence and importance." 

An admirer thus describes Mr. Bryan's graces as an 
orator : 

" Bryan neglects none of the accessories of oratory. 
Nature richly dowered him with rare grace. He is liappy 
in attitude and pose. His gestures are on Hogarth's line 
of beauty. Mellifluous is the word that most aptly de- 
scribes his voice. It is strong enough to be heard by 
thousands; it is sweet enough to charm those least in- 
clined to music. It is so modulated as not to vex the ear 
with monotony, and can be stern or pathetic, fierce or 
gentle, serious or humorous with the varying emotions of 
its master. In his youth Bryan must have had a skilful 
teacher in elocution, and must have been a docile pupil. 
He enriches his speeches with illustrations from the 
classics or from the common occurrences of everyday life 
with equal felicity. But his crowning gift as an orator is 
his evident sincerity. He is candor incarnate, and thor- 
oughly believes what he says himself." 

i\Ir. Bryan is a man of considerable personal magnetism 
and fine presence. The resemblance between him and the 
late Samuel J. Randall has been remarked by many. 
He is about five feet ten inches in height, weighs l<^0 
pounds, and has dark hair and dark eyes. His jaw is 
heavy and square, and he is smooth shaven. His cheek 
bones are prominent and his forehead square. 

He is an exceedingly pleasant talker, and is fond of 



528 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

dealing in well-rounded phrases. His speeches abound 
with poetry. He is of Irish extraction, but his people 
have lived in this country for more than a hundred years. 
Inrelii^ion he is a Presbyterian, but believes in the entire 
separation of Church and State. He steadfastly opposes 
bringing religion into politics or politics into religion. 

Mr. Bryan lives well in a commodious dwelling in the 
fashionable part of Lincoln. The study in wliich both Mr. 
and jNIrs. Bryan have desks is a very attractive room. It 
is filled with books, statuary and mementos of campaigns. 
There are busts or portraits of noted men, and there are 
two butcher knives which Mr. Bryan used in the cam- 
paign with Judge Field, to refute the latter's boasts of the 
effects of higli protection. 

Mr. Bryan has many admirers among the Republicans. 
He has cultivated the enemy. He knows, personally, 
nearly every young man of any prominence in southeastern 
Nebraska, and he has a way of making friends feel that he 
takes a personal interest in their welfare. When he was 
in Congress he maintained a very large correspondence 
with men of all parties at home. 

When he heard that any acquaintance of his had been 
promoted or married, or had won distinction of any sort, 
he immediately wrote a friendly letter of congratulation. 
In case of alBiction he wrote consolinglj-. 

Then when he came home and met the people on the 
street he never failed to grasp their hands warmly and make 
personal inquiry as to their welfare. Bryan never passes 
a friend without suitable recognition. This has been very 
effective in giving him a hold on tlie people. 

Another thing that has contributed to his popularity is 
Ins good nature. He has come in for a good deal of criti- 
cism, but he has never lost his temper. He has met abuse 



LIFE OP WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 529 

with smiles. He lias sought to phicate,to conciliate, lie 
gets close to people. He is gifted with the politician's 
highest art. 

Nomination for President. 

The National Convention of the Democratic party met 
at Chicago on July 7th, 1896. The gathering was looked 
to with profound interest by tlie entire country, for it was 
well known that a factional fight would be precipitated 
between tlie "free silver coinage" and " sound money " 
wings of the party, upon whose results might depend the 
further existence of the party. 

The contentious wings were divided sectionally, the 
"sound money" men representing the Eastern States, 
with one or two exceptions, and the "free silver coinage " 
men representing the Western and Southern States. The 
exponents of the former were such leaders as Whitney, 
Flowers, and Hill, of New York, Russell, of Massachusetts, 
and others, who had been trusted Democratic counsellors 
in the past, and who stood for the financial views of the 
Cleveland administration. The exponents of the latter 
wing were such men as Bland of Missouri, Jones of 
Arkansas, McLean of Ohio, Boies of Iowa, Bryan of Ne- 
braska, Gov. Altgeld of Illinois, Senator Tillman of South 
Carolina, and others, all more or less distinguished for 
their adherence to the doctrine of free silver coinage, to 
the principle of free trade, and to such other theories of 
government as had been agitating the South and West for 
a decade. 

Long before the convention met, and during almost tlie 
entire period of creating delegates to it, it was confidently 
asserted by the free silver coinage wing that it would pre- 
vail in the councils of the party, and would no longer per- 



630 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BEYAN. 

init a minority to dictate a policy. Tliey, therefore, came 
into the convention with resolute purpose, and when they 
found that their predictions as to strength and numbers 
Jiad been fulfilled, their determination, became all the moie 
pronounced. The convention was to become a battle 
royal between contending forces, and a policy was to be 
launched which would shape the party's destiny for the 
future. 

The silver men had not only the advantage of numbec? , 
but they had the moral advantage that accrued to tlc'i? I 
from the attitude of the gold men in 1892, when, in ordei 
to secure the election of Mr. Cleveland, they went in t/o the 
silver states and effected unions of Democrats and Popu- 
lists in order to achieve their purpose. They were, there- 
fore, now in no position to antagonize effectually ttje very 
sentiments they had once encouraged for ulterior purposes. 
They were surrounded by fires of their own Jiindling. 
The legitimate consequences of their own political meth- 
ods had come home to torment and frustrate thern. They 
were face to face with a catastrophe of their own shaping. 

From the very start of the Convention, the silver men 
took high and bold ground. They organi;;ed it by 
electing Senator Daniel, of Virginia, as temporary 
chairman, over Senator Hill, of New Yoi'k, though 
it had been customary to concede to the minority 
the compliment of this office. The vote on this innova- 
tion showed a strength of 556 silver men to 849 gold 
men, though the real strength of the former was larger, 
owing to the fact that many of tliem doubted the propi iety 
of breaking awa}^ from a time honored procedure. This 
test of strength was made amid great excitement and 
mucli acrimonious speech-making, and the result was re- 
ceived with an outburst of cheers by the silver men, while 



I 



LirE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 631 

the gold men sat in silent stupefaction, or made known 
their protest by threats of a bolt. 

Mr. Daniel accepted the honor conferred in a brilliant 
speech, whose key was the free and unlimited coinage of 
silver as a measure of declaring the financial independence 
of tlie United States of all other nations, and of restoring 
lost prosperity. The test vote would also decide the com- 
plexion of the platform, but it would not decide the candida- 
ture, for as yet the two-third rule for a nomination existed. 

A permanent organization was effected on July 8, by the 
selection of Senator Stephen B. White, of California, as 
permanent chairman. In the case of contested seats from 
Michigan, enough silver men were seated to throw the 
vote of that state into the silver column. There were two 
contesting delegations from Nebraska, Mr. Bryan's own 
State. 

Tlie National committee reported in favor of the gold 
men, but when the matter was referred to the Credentials 
Committee the latter at once reported in favor of the 
delegates led by Mr. Bryan. The motion to adopt the 
report in the Convention was declared carried by a viva 
voce vote, a demand for a roll-call, which was at first 
made by ex-Governor Russell, being withdrawn on the 
statement of the chairman of the Credentials Committee 
that the report was unanimous. The gold delegation 
then retired to a march tune by the band, and the silver 
delegation under Bryan's lead was admitted to the Con- 
vention. 

These radical changes were brought about by a vote of 
558 to 368, and they served to show the earnestness of 
the silver majority, as well as the fact that it was now 
sufficiently organized to remain coherent amid all the 
exciting turns of the Convention. 



532 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BllYAN. 

Meanwhile a terrific battle was going on in the Com- 
mittee on Resolutions. The silver men were determined 
that tlie platform should be a plain and unequivocal state-- 
ment of their principles, while the gold rej)resentatives 
sougiit such modifications as would serve to stave oft" a 
party breach, and reconcile the country to the platform 
dechiratiuns. The result of this struggle was a majority 
and minority report on the platform, with an appeal to 
the Convention for final settlement. 

When these reports were made, it meant a day of angry 
struggle in the Convention. The silver men grew firmer 
in their attitude and more pronounced in their views. 
The gold men tried all the expedients of oratory and de- 
lay to accomplish something favorable to themselves but 
they were opposed on every hand by buttresses upon 
which they could make no impression. Signal and sting- 
ing as their repeated defeats had been, they were, hence- 
forth, to be still more crushing and humiliating. The 
silver men meant to be complete masters of the Demo- 
cratic party and its future destiny. The}' grew defiant in 
debate, and many of them assumed attitudes which called 
for rebuke from their own side. 

This third day's session of the Convention (July 9) 
was pivotal and crucial. It witnessed the sullen depart- 
ure from the deliberations of many of the gold delegates. 
It felt the distracting influence of presidential booms, the 
most imposing of which was in favor of Richard P. Bland, 
of Missouri, who had been for years the recognized cham- 
pion of the free silver cause, and whose nomination was 
regarded as deserved and logical, if not inevitable. It 
heard the echoes of a battle more desperate than any ever 
before waged in a Democratic Convention, the memorable 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BKYAN. 633 

Convention of 1860, which sundered the party on the 
slavery issue, alone excepted. 

Senator Jones, of Arkansas, read the majority report of 
the Committee on Platform. J. H. Wade, of Ohio, fol- 
lowed by reading the minority report. Both these re- 
ports will be found in place at the end of this article. 
The issue was thus drawn in Convention. Senator Till- 
man, of South Carolina, sprang to the rescue of the ma- 
jority platform in a speech filled with fiery invective, and 
most ultra denunciation of the Cleveland administration. 
It was so partisan and sectional, that Senator Jones, of 
Arkansas, rose and gave a non -sectional turn to the dis- 
cussion, by declaring that free silver coinage was national, 
and as a cause had adherents in every State. 

Now came the turn of Senator Hill, of New York. By 
reason of his ability and prominence, he was accorded an 
anxious hearing, and it was known that his effort was to 
crown the action of the gold men. It was to be their 
final protest and expiring cry in the Convention, and it 
was to remain practically unanswered till Mr. Bryan 
found in it a theme for that great forensic effort which 
carried the Convention by storm and made him its 
nominee for President. 

Mr. Hill was followed in equally eloquent and pathetic 
strains by Senator Vilas, of Wisconsin, and ex-Governor 
Russell, of Massachusetts. The climax of excitement 
was supposed to have been reached. But not so. The 
storm of demonstration that greeted Russell's peroration 
was quickly submerged by that which welcomed the ap- 
pearance of William J. Bryan on the stage. He had been 
spoken of in a general way as a presidential possibility, 
but as yet no. concerted movement had been made in his 
behalf. He had been frequently called for by the Con- 



534 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

ventioii, but had preferred reserve to publicity. His time 
liad uow come. As he appeared more than half the Con- 
vention was standing and the air was full of newspapers 
and hats. Four times the cheering seemed to have spent 
itself and each time it rose again with a roll of an advanc- 
ing wave. Bryan stood with a smile playing on his face 
and an uplifted arm waiting for silence. While he stood 
there waiting, hundreds had their first view of a man 
whose political life in Congress and afterward had been 
identified with the movement for free silver. 

He was in face and figure a Roman on the stage — the 
likeness of one stepped from the tragic stage. He had a 
clean-cut, firm mouth, a strong Roman nose and black 
hair brushed back from his forehead and falling over his 
collar in short curls. His appearance was that of a plain 
Westerner. 

Even the attention given to Tillman and Hill did not 
equal the breathless eagerness with which the thousands 
peered forward to catch the first sentence of this young 
man whom man}^ Westerners appraise as their foremost 
orator. They were not disappointed. He spoke as fol- 
lows, nearly every sentence being received witli ringing 
applause, and at times the approval being so boisterous 
and continuous as to interrupt his torrent of eloquence 
for several minutes : 

"Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the Convention: — I 
would be presumptuous indeed to present myself against 
the distinguished gentleman to whom you have listened, 
if this were but a measuring of ability, but this is not a 
contest among persons. The humblest citizen in all the 
land when called to arms in a rigliteous cause is stronger 
than all the whole hosts of error that they can bring. I 



hWE OF "WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 535 

come to speak to you in defence of a cause as lioly as the 
cause of liberty, the cause of humanity. 

*' When this debate is conchided a motion will be made 
to lay upon the table the resolution offered in commenda- 
tion of the Administration and also the resolution in 
condemnation of the Administration. I shall object to 
bringing this question to a level of persons. The indi- 
vidual is but an atom ; he is born, he acts, he dies ; but 
principles are eternal and this has been a contest of prin- 
ciple. 

" Never before in the history of this country has there 
been witnessed such a contest as that through which we 
have passed. Never before in the history of American 
politics has a great issue been fought out as this issue 
has been by the voters themselves. 

"On the 4th of March, 1895, a few Democrats, mostly 
members of Congress, issued an address to the Democrats 
of the nation asserting that the money question was the 
paramount issue of the hour; asserting also the right of 
allowing the Democratic party to control the position of 
tlie party on this issue ; concluding with the request 
that all believers in free coinage of silver in the Demo- 
cratic party should take charge of and control the policy 
of the Democratic party. 

" Three months later, at Memphis, an organization was 
formed and the silver Democrats went forth openly and 
boldly and courageously proclaiming their belief and de- 
claring that if successful they would crj^stallize in the 
platform the declaration which they had made ; and then 
began the conflict wdth a zeal approaching the zeal which 
insi)ired the crusaders who followed Peter the Hermit. 
Our silver Democrats went forth from victory unto 
victor}^, until they are assembled now, not to discuss, not 



536 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

to debate, but to euter up the judgment rendered bj them 
to the people of this country. 

"In this contest brotlier has been arrayed against 
brother, and father against son. The warmest ties of love 
and acquaintance and association have been disregarded. 
Old leaders have been cast aside when they refused to 
give expression to the sentiments of those whom they 
would lead, and new leaders have sprung up to give 
direction to this cause of truth. 

"Thus has tlie contest been waged, and we have as 
sembled here under as binding and solemn instructions as 
were ever fastened upon the representatives of a people. 
We do not come as individuals. Why, as individuals we 
might have been glad to compliment the gentleman from 
New York, but we know that the people for whom we 
speak would never be willing to put him in a position 
where he could thwart the will of the Democratic part}'. 
(Cheers.) I say it was not a question of persons, it was 
a question of principles, and it is not with gladness, ni}' 
friends, that we find ourselves brought into conflict with 
those who are now arrayed on the other side. The gen- 
tleman who just preceded me (Governor Russell) spoke of 
the old State of Massachusetts. Let me assure him that 
not one person in all this Convention entertains the least 
hostility to the people of the State of Massachusetts. 

" But we stand here representing people who are the 
equals before the law of the largest citizens in the State 
of Massachusetts. (Applause.) When you come before 
us and tell us that we shall disturb your business in- 
terests, we reply that you have disturbed our business in- 
terests by your course. (Great applause and cheering.) 
We say to you that you have made too limited in its ap- 
plication the definition of business men. The man who 



LIFE OK WILLIAM JENNINGS BKYAN. 537 

is employed for wages is us much a business man as his 
empluyer. 

" The attorney in a country town is as much a business 
man as the hiwyer in the great metropolis. Tlie merchant 
at a crossroads is as much a business man as the merchant 
of New York. The farmer who goes forth in the morn- 
ing and toils all day, begins in the Spring and toils all 
Summer, and by the application of brain and muscle to 
the natural resources of this country creates wealth, is as 
much a business man as the man who goes upon the Board 
of Trade and bets upon the price of grain. 

" The miners who go a thousand feet into the earth or 
climb 2,000 feet upon the cliffs and bring forth from their 
hiding places the precious metals to be poured into the 
channels of trade, are as much business men as the few 
financial magnates who in a backroom corner the money 
of the world. 

"We come to speak for this broader class of business 
men. Ah ! My friends, we say not one word against those 
who live upon the Atlantic coast ; but those hardy pioneers 
who braved all dangers of the wilderness, who have made 
the desert to blossom as the rose — those pioneers away out 
there, rearing their children near nature's heart where 
they can mingle their voices with the voices of the birds 
— out there where they have erected schoolhouses for the 
education of their young, and churches where they praise 
their Creator, and cemeteries Avhere sleep the ashes of 
their dead — are as deserving of the consideration of 
this party as any people in this country. 

"We have petitioned, and our petitions have been 
scorned. We have entreated, and our entreaties have 
been disregarded, and they have mocked and our calamity 
came. 



538 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

" We beg no longer ; we entreat no more ; we petition 
no more. We defy them. 

" The gentleman of Wisconsin has said that he feared a 
Robespierre. My friends, in this land of the free, we need 
fear no tyrant who will spring up from among the people. 
What we need is an Andrew Jackson to stand as Jackson 
stoodtheencroachmentsof aggrandizement of wealth. They 
tell us that this platform was made to catch votes. We 
reply to them that changing conditions make no issues; 
that the principles upon which rest Democracy are as 
everlasting as the hills, but that they must be applied to 
new conditions as they arise. 

" Conditions have arisen and we are attempting to meet 
those conditions. They tell us that the income tax ought 
not to be brought in here ; that it is a new idea. They 
criticise us for our criticisms of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. My friends, we have not criticised. We 
have simply called attention to what you know. If you 
want criticisms, read the dissenting opinion of the court. 
That will give you criticisms. 

" They say we passed an unconstitutional bill. I deny 
it. The income tax was not unconstitutional when it Avas 
passed. It was not unconstitutional when it went before 
the Supreme Court for the first time. It did not become 
unconstitutional until one Judge changed his mind, and 
we cannot be expected to know when a Judge will change 
his mind. 

" The income tax is a just law. It simply intends to 
put the burden of Government justly upon the backs of 
the people. I am in favor of an income tax. 

" Wlien I find a man who is not willing to pay his share 
of the burden of the Government which protects him, I 
find a man who is unwortliy to enjoy the blessings of a 



f 



LIFE OF WILLIAN JENNINGS BRYAN. 539 

Government like ours. He says that we are opposing the 
national bank currency. It is true. If you will read 
what Thomas Benton said you will find that he said that 
in searching history he could find but one parallel to 
Andrew Jackson. That was Cicero, who destroyed the 
conspiracy of Cataline and saved Rome. He did for Rome 
what Jackson did when he destroyed the bank conspiracy 
and saved America. 

" We say that in our platform that we believe that the 
right to coin money and issue money is a function of the 
Government. We believe it. We believe it is a part of 
sovereignty and can no more with safety be delegated to 
private individuals than we could afford to delegate to 
private individuals the power to make penal statutes or 
levy laws for taxation. Mr. Jefferson, who was once re- 
garded as good Democratic authority, seems to have a dif- 
ferent opinion from the gentlemen who have addressed us 
on the part of the minority. Those who are opposed to 
the proposition tell us that the issue of paper money is a 
function of the bank and that the Government ought to 
go out of the banking business. 

" I stand with Jefferson rather than with them and tell 
them, as he did, that the issue of money is a function of 
the Government and that the banks ought to go out of 
the Government business. They complain about that 
plank which declares against the life tenure in office. They 
have tried to strain it to mean that which it does not mean. 
What we oppose in that plank is the life tenure that is 
being built up at Washington, which excludes from party 
representation in the benefits the humbler members of our 
society. 

"Let me call the attention to two or three great things. 
The gentleman from New York says that he will propose 



540 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN". 

an ameiidment providing that tliis change in these laws 
shall not affect contracts already made. Let me remind 
him that there is no intention of affecting those contracts 
which according to the present laws are made payable in 
gold. 

" But if he means to say that we cannot change our 
monetary system without protecting those who have 
loaned money before the change was made, I want to ask 
him where, in law or in morals, he can find authority for 
not protecting the debtors when the act of 1873 was passed, 
but not insist that we must protect the creditors. 

" He says he also wants to amend this law and provide 
that if we fail to maintain a parity within a year that we 
will then suspend the coinage of silver. We reply that 
when we advocate a thing which we believe will be suc- 
cessful we are not compelled to raise a doubt as to our 
own sincerity by trying to show what we will do if we 
can. 

" I ask him if he will apply his logic to us, why he does 
not apply it to himself. He says that he wants this coun- 
try to try to secure an international agreement. Why 
doesn't he tell us what he is going to do if they fail to 
secure an international agreement? 

"There is more reason for him to do that than for us to 
fail to maintain the parity. They have tried fur thirty 
years to secure an international agreement, and those 
who are waiting for it most impatiently don't want it at 
all. 

"Now, my friends, let me come to the great paramount 
issue. If they ask here why is it we say more on the 
money question than we say upon the tariff question, I 
reply that if protection has slain its thousands the gold 
standard has slain its tens of thousands. If they ask us 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 511 

why we didn't embody all these things in our platform vvliith 
we believe, we reply to them that when we have restored 
tlie money of the Constitution, all other necessary reforms 
will be possible, and that until that is done there is no re- 
form that can be accomplished. 

" Why is it that within three months such a change has 
come over the sentiments of this country. Three months 
ago, when it was confidently asserted that those who be- 
lieved in the gold standard wotdd frame our platform and 
nominate our candidate, even the advocates of the gold 
standard did not think that we could elect a President ; 
but they had good reason for the suspicion because there 
is scarcely a State here to-day asking for the gold stand- 
ard that is not within the absolute control of the Republi- 
can party. 

"But note the change. Mr. McKinley was nominated 
at St. Louis upon a platform that declared for the main- 
tenance of the gold standard until it should be changed 
into bimetallism by an international agreement. Mr. Mc- 
Kinley was the most popular man among the Republican 
party, and everybody three months ago in the Republican 
.party prophesied his election. How is it to-day ? Why 
that man who used to boast that he looked like Napoleon 
(laughter and cheers) — that man shudders to-day when 
he thinks that he was nominated on the anniversary of the 
battle of Waterloo. 

" Not only that, but as he listens, he can hear with ever 
increasing distinctness the sound of the waves as the}^ beat 
upon the lonely shores of St. Helena. Why this change ? 
Ah ! my friends, it is evident to every one who will look 
at the matter. It is no private character, however pure ; 
personal popularity, however great, that can protect from 
the avenging wrath of an indignant people the man who 
30 



542 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

will neither declare that he is in favor of foisting the gold 
standard upon the people or who is willing to surrender 
the right of self-government and place legislative control 
in the hands of foreign potentates and powers. 

"We go forth confident that we shall win. Why? 
Because upon the paramount issue in this campaign there 
is not a spot of ground upon which the enemy will dare 
to challenge battle. Why, if they tell us that the gold 
standard is a good thing, we point to their platform and 
tell them that their platform pledges the party to get rid 
of a gold standard and substitute bimetallism. 

" If the gold standard is a good thing why try to get 
rid of it ? If the g(jld standard, and I might call your at- 
tention to the fact that some of the very people who are 
in this convention to-day and who tell j'ou tliat we ought 
to declare in favor of the international bimetallism, and 
thereby declare that the gold standard is wrong, and that 
the principle of bimetallism is better, these very people 
four months ago were open and avowed advocates of the 
gold standard and telling us that we could not legislate 
two metals together even with all tlie world. 

"• I want to suggest this truth, that if the gold standard 
is a good thing we ought to declare in favor of its reten- 
tion and not in favor of abandoning it ; and if the gold 
standard is a bad thing, why should we wait until some 
other nations are willing to help us to let go ? 

"Here is the line of battle. We care not upon Avhich 
issue they force the fight. We are prepared to meet thexu 
on either issue or on both. If the}^ tell us that the gold 
standard is the standard of civilization, we reply to them 
that this, the most enlightened of all the nations of the 
earth, has never declared for a gold standard, and both 
the parties this year are declaring against it. 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 543 

" If the gold standard is the standard of civilization, 
why, my friends, should we not have it ? So if they come 
to meet us on that, we can present the history of our na- 
tioiio JNIore than that, we can tell them this, that they 
will search the pages of history in vain to lind a single 
instance in which the common people of any land have 
ever declared themselves in favor of a gold standard. 

"They can find where the holders of fixed investments 
have. Mr. Carlisle said in 1878 that this was a struggle 
between the idle holders of idle capital and the struggling 
masses who prod ace the wealth and pay the taxes of the 
country, and, my friends, it is simply a question that we 
shall decide upon which side shall the Democratic party 
fight? Upon the side of the idle holders of idle capital, 
or upon the side of the struggling masses ? 

" That is the question that the party must answer first, 
and then it must be answered by each individual here- 
after. The sympathies of the Democratic party as de- 
scribed by the platform are on the side of the struggling 
masses who have ever been the foundation of the Demo- 
cratic party. 

" There are two ideas of Government. There are tliose 
who believe that if you just legislate to make the well-to- 
do prosperous that their prosperit}^ will leak through on 
those below. The Democratic idea has been that if you 
legislate to make the masses prosperous their prosperity 
will find its way up through every class and rest upon it. 

"If you come to us and tell us that the great cities are 
in favor of the gold standard, I tell you that the great 
cities rest upon these broad and fertile prairies. Burn 
down your cities and leave our farms, and ^our cities will 
spring up again as if by magic. But destroy our farms 



544 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BYRAN. 

and the grass will grow in the streets of every city in this 
country. 

" My friends, we shall declare that this nation is able to 
legislate for its own people on every question williuut 
waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation on eartli 
(applause), and upon that issue we expect to carry everj- 
single State in the Union. 

" I shall not slander the fair State of Massacliusetts nor 
the State of New York by saying that when its citizens 
are confronted with the proposition, Is this nation able 
to attend to its own business? — I will not slander either 
one by saying that the people of those States will declare 
our helpless impotency as a nation to attend to our own 
business. 

"It is the issue of 1776 over again. Our ancestors, 
then but 3,000,000, had the courage to declare their politi- 
cal independence of every other nation upon earth. Shall 
we, their descendants, when we have grown to 70,000,000, 
declare that we are less independent than our forefathers? 

"No, my friends, it will never be the judgment of the 
people. Therefore, we care not upon what lines the battle' 
is fought. If they say bimetallism is good, but we cannot 
have it till some nation helps us, we repl}- that instead of 
having a gold standard because England has, we shall re- 
store bimetallism and then let England have bimetallism 
because the United States lias. 

"If they dare to come out and in the open defend the 
gold standard as a good thing, we slmll fight them to the 
uttermost, having behind us the producing masses of this 
nation and the world. Having behind us the commercial 
interests and tlie laboring interests and all the toiling 
masses, we shall answer tlioii- demands f(tr a gold standard 
by saying to them you shall not press down upon the brow 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 545 

ot" labui' tliis crown of tboriis. You shall not crucify man 
on a cross of gold." 

The conclusion of Mr. Bryan's si^eech was marked by 
the most enthusiastic demonstration of the Convention up 
to that time. The whole Convention sprang to its feet 
and 20,000 throats roared, while twice 20,000 arms waved 
franticall3^ Handkerchiefs and flags flew wildly. Hats 
were hurled aloft. Umbrellas were waved. Men shouted 
like maniacs. From every quarter of the hall came the 
hoarse roar. ' 

Suddenly a member of the Texas delegation uprooted 
the banner of the Lone Star State, and carried it to where 
stood the standard of Nebraska. Above the roar rose 
piercing shrieks, which sounded like a volley of siege guns 
above the continuous rattle of L0,000 small arms. Other 
delegates grasped the staffs of their delegations and pushed 
their way to the Nebraska delegation. 

Soon the staffs of two-thirds of the States were grouped 
about the purple standard of Bryan's State. Only the 
standards of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, 
Minnesota, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Ver- 
mont, South Dakota, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania 
were left standing when the demonstration was at its 
height. 

Meantime the awful roar from the galleries continued. 
The band played, but the music could not be heard above 
the Niagara-like tumult of sound. Like an angrj' ocean 
it swept on, breaking at last, receding, falling back, only 
to rise again. Delegates fairlv jumped for joy. Some of 
them took possession of the aisles and marched. Suddenlj' 
the State standards clustered at Nebraska were borne 
away in single file through the aisles of the pit. 

After five minutes of this turbulence, the crowd sank 



546 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

back exhau:sled. When all were seated, Delegate Sauls- 
bury, of Delaware, climbed on to his chair. He and his 
three silver colleagues in that State gave three cheers for 
Bi-yan, which was answered with a shout from the gallery 
of "What's the matter with Bryan for President?" 

The transaction of business was started again by Sena- 
tor Hill of New York, but not without considerable diffi- 
culty. 

The " ayes " on the question were not loud, but the 
" noes " gave a great shout. Whereupon, Senator Hill, 
with uplifted hand demanded the call of States. 

The announcement of the vote, "ayes" 626, "noes" 
303, gave the silver men grounds for applause, because it 
was the first test vote directly on the financial question, 
and showed six more than the necessary two-thirds to 
nominate. 

Senator Hill offered other amendments to the platform 
which were voted down by the same majorit3\ A vote was 
then taken on the platform submitted by a majoritj' of the 
Committee on Resolutions, and it was adopted by 628 
for and 301 against. 

The great battle was over, the party commitment de- 
cisively made. The laurels of the day rested on the head 
of the " Boy Orator of the Platte," and henceforth he 
was to rank with the most formidable of the aspirants for 
Presidential honors. There was destiny in his superb 
oratorical effort. 

The evening session of July 9, was devoted to placing i 
candidates in nomination. Mr. Bland was eloquently 
nominated by Senator Vest, Mr. Matthews by Senator 
Turpie, Mr. Boies by Senator White. Then Georgia was 
called, Colonel H. T. Lewis rose, and, after a few eloquent 
enconiums submitted the name of William J. Bryan, of 



LIFE OP WILLIAM JENNINGS BEYAN. 547 

Nebraska, as the one for whom the State would vote. *'IIe 
needs no speech to recounnend hiin," said Colonel Lewis. 

The words exploded another mine of the same fiery sort 
whicli the Nebraskan had enflamed with his own oratory a 
few hours before. Three or four State delegations were 
on their chairs leading the cheer with the lungs of scatter- 
ing delegates from other States abetting them. Nebraska 
seemed to furnisli the galleries with a hero, for they were 
making the great chorus of the noise. The blue banner 
with the placard, " William J. Bryan Club, of Nebraska ; 
16 to 1," emblazoned in silver letters was lifted above 
Nebraska's seats. 

The standards of Georgia, North Carolina, Louisiana, 
Michigan and South Dakota rallied around the blue and 
silver emblem, and then the standard-bearers started 
a march around the pit. 

When order was partially restored, T. F. Klutz, of 
North Carolina, seconded the nomination of William J. 
Bryan, and in this he was followed by G. F. Williams of 
Massachusetts, and Thos. Kernan of Louisiana. 

The work of balloting for a nominee was postponed till 
Friday, July 10th. The indications now all pointed to 
Bryan though several other candidates were to be placed 
in the field. It was to be as exciting a day as the previous 
one, though without its acerbities. A melancholy and 
painful part of the proceedings was the declination of so 
many delegates to join in them, through disgust at the plat 
form and their treatment by the majority. New York 
and New Jersey delegates remained passive in their seats, 
and Connecticut, Wisconsin, Delaware, Michigan, and 
Rhode Island cast only partial or scattering votes. 

The first ballot showed that the heroes in the contest 
were Bland and Bryan, and that a clarification of the situa- 



5^8 



LIFE OF WILLIAM .TKNNINGvS BKYAN. 



tioii could liai'dly be other than in favor of Bryan, for the 
Bland strength must have its limit, while that of Bryan 
could have none short of a nomination. The ballots were 
taken in quick order and with the following results: 

First Ballot. 



Bland 

Bryan 

Boies 

Blackburn 

McLean - 

Matthews 

Stevenson 

Teller 

Pattison - 

Russell 

Pennoyer 

Tillman - 

Hill 

Campbell - 

Not voting 

Total voting 



Bland 
Bryan 

Boies 

Blackburn 

McLean 

Matthews - 

Stevenson - 

Teller 

Pattison - 

Pennover - 

Hill 

Not votinjx 



Second Ballot. 



237 

137 

67 

83 

54 

37 

5 

8 

94 
2' 
8 

17 

1 

1 

179 

761 



281 

197 

37 

41 

53 

34 

10 

8 

100 

8 

1 

160 



Total voting 



770 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 



549 





Third Ballot. 








Rkiiid 


- . - . 


. 


. 


291 


Biyaii 


- 


- 


- 


219 


Boies 


- 


• 


- 


30 


Blackburn 


.... 


- 


- 


27 


McLean - 


- , - 


- 


- 


54 ! 


Matthews - 


. 


. 


- 


34 ' 


Stevenson - 


.... 


- 


- 


9 


Pattison - 


- 


- 


. 


97 


Hill 


- - 


- 


- 


] 


Not voting 


- - - - 


• 


- 


162 f 

• 


Total voting 


Fourth Ballot. 


- 


- 


768 1' 

i 


Bland 


.... 


. 




241 1 


Bryan 


• 


- 




280 


Boies 


, _ - 


- 




33 


Blackburn 


.... 






27 


McLean - 


.... 






46 


Matthews - 


.... 






36 


Stevenson - 


.... 






6 


Pattison - 


.... 




. 


96 


Hill 


- 




- 


1 1 


Not voting 


- 




■ - 


162 


Total voting 


. 


- 


- 


766 

1 


The Fifth and Decisive 


Ballot. 




Bryan 


.... 


. 


- 


528 


Bland 


. 


- 




77 , 'i 


Boies 


. 


- 




36 


Matthews • 


.... 


- 




30 


Scattering 


. 


. 




5 1 


Not voting 


- - - • 


- 




254 

1 


Total voting 


. 


- 


- 


676 ; 



650 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BR"^AN. 

Mr. Bryan received tlie announcement of his nomination 
witli all tlie composure and calmness of a man who had 
been used to such things during a longer life than his. 
His handsome black eyes were perhaps slightly more 
dilated than ordinarily when the bulletin carrying the 
nomination message was handed to him, but otherwise he 
manifested no change of countenance or manner. He 
was at the time sitting chatting with two newspaper 
friends in his parlor at the Clifton House. 

" If,'-' said he, " this is true, I want to do that which I 
have for some time had in contemplation in this emer- 
gency." He then turned to the parlor table, and with a 
lead pencil wrote on a scrap of soft paper supplied by 
one of his newspaper visitors the following: 

To the American People : — In order that I may have no 
ambition but to discharge faithfully the duties of the 
office, I desire to announce that, if elected President, I 
shall under no circumstances be a candidate for re- 
election. W. J. Bryan. 

During the evening a public reception was arranged for 
him at his hotel, at which he sounded the keynote of his 
campaign in the following vigorous language : 

" There shall be no signs of ' Keep off the grass ' when 
you come around, boys," he began good-naturedly to the 
jostling thousands on the street. Then he asked : "Is 
this the Bland Club ? " A yell in the affirmative answered 
his inquiry. 

" Then I want to say to the friends of Bland that if 
the Convention had chosen as their nominee the man 
whose name is inscribed on your banners he would have 
no more loyal supporter than I. The fact that he was 



LIFE OF WILLIAM JKNNINGS BRYAN. 551 

not chosen cannot be taken as the slightest reflection upon 
his great ability. No man more deserves of the Conven- 
tion its love, its honor and its confidence than Richard P. 
Bland." 

Another great shout went up from the ciowd and for 
several minutes the speaker could not proceed. When 
quiet was again restored he went on. "But circum 
stances contributed much in shaping the results of this 
Convention. When the campaign is over I think it can 
be said that no mistake has been made. 

"But it depends upon you, upon the plain people. 
Abraham Lincoln once said that the Lord must love the 
plain people because he made so many of them. If we 
win in this great fight it will be because the plain people 
believe that we will bring to them exact and equal 
justice. 

"We raise no plea against the power and the just due 
accorded to intelligence and to education, but we insist 
that when the Government comes in contact with the 
people there mast be equal aid, exact justice to all alike, 
rich and poor, great and humble. 

" The issue of this campaign is the money question 
(long continued applause), and we cannot be driven from 
our faith by the charge that we advocate dishonest 
money. The free and unlimited coinage of silver at the 
ratio of 16 to 1, independent of any nation on the face 
of the earth, will not give us dishonest mone3% 

"It will not give us a dollar's worth of value to one 
and another to another man. It will give to the man 
who toils, the same as to the man who holds the mort- 
gage. It will give us a coin that sails upon prosperity. 
This is to be a fight of the campaign, and you, my friends, 
are to do the fighting. 



652 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN. 

"I once heard a story of a man at a hotel who could 
not sleep because the man in the room above walked the 
floor all night. At last the man below, in despair, asked 
his friend above wliy he continued to walk the floor 
throughout the night. The friend replied: 'I owe 
$10,000, and it is due next week. I think it is about 
time to walk the room all night.' 'But my friend, why 
don't you go to sleep and let the other man do the walk- 
ing?' 

"Now, a great many people seem to think that the j 
candidate must do all the walking of the floor and all the 
fighting. But this is your fight. It is more important to 
the people that they should select their officers than it is 
to the candidate that they should elect themselves. It is 
for you to say who your hired man will be. The officers 
of the people are their servants. 

" Why should you not be careful in selecting the man 
who serves you in a public capacity, when you give great 
care in selecting those wlio serve you in a private ca- 
pacity ? I want you to go home and feel that this cause 
is your cause. It is the cause of the people, the plain 
people. If we fight as we should, we shall deserve to 
win. I thank you my friends." 

Mr. Bryan's nomination drew a variety of comment 
from his party. The silver men regarded it as eminently 
fitting, and as calculated to lead to certain victory. Tlie 
gold men did not withhold their admiration for his private 
worth and great forensic ability, but they bitterly de- 
nounced the platform which had been adopted, and ex- 
pressed in unmeasured terms their hostility to the princi- 
ples therein incorporated. They regarded them as un- 
Democratic and revolutionary, and as impossible for sup- 
port. This, however, had evidently been anticipated and 



LIFE OF WILLTAJr JENNINGS BRYAN. 5.3-3 

(liscuuiited, for ]\Ir. Biyan took the optoniistic view that 
as soon as the passions of tlie liour had cooled the full 
party strength wonld rally to his support. In this he was 
encouraged by the number and character of the congratu- 
lations that poured in upon hini by telegraph and letter 
from men of all factions and parties, witliout regard to 
geographic limits. 

Space does not permit the printing of these congratula- 
tions, nor a setting forth of the character of the criticisms 
mentioned in connection with the platform. One char- 
acteristic of the latter, however, is consonant with im- 
l)artial history, and that was the confession that Demo- 
cratic leaders were not blameless for the situation A^ilh 
which they found themselves confronted. For the three 
Cleveland campaigns they had sowed dragon's teeth, in 
sending speakers to the countrj^ to tell the people that 
they were being ground down by oppressive laws which 
protected monopolies and which made the rich richer and 
the poor poorer. Cleveland himself it was said made this 
mistake, never losing an opportunity to say to the masses 
that they were being frightfully burdened b}^ unjust tax- 
ation. These campaign arguments and plausible and 
ponderous pleas of Cleveland created much discontent, 
and added to that which already existed, but the great 
mistake, as admitted by some of those who were in part 
responsible for it, was that which was made in 1892. 

After Mr. Bryan's departure from Chicago, and on his 
wav home to Lincoln, he visited Salem, his birthplace. 
The journey was a continuous series of ovations, hardh- 
less enthusiastic than those that awaited him at Salem, 
and again on his arrival at Lincoln, where the populous 
turned out irrespective of party to proclaim their satis- 
faction over his nomination. These occasions gave him 



554 LIFE OF WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN". 

opportunity for eloquent and stirring speeches, in which 
he fully sustained the reputation for oratory he had so 
splendidly confirmed in the Convention and before the 
party that had honored him with the nomination for 
President. 



LIFE OF ARTHUR SEW ALL. 



Arthur Sewall, nominee of the Democratic Party 
for Vice-President, sprang from an old and distinguished 
family on both sides of the Atlantic. His ancestors 
came to this country in 1654, and his grandfather, 
Dummer vSewall,was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. 
He was settled at York, Maine, and moved thence to 
Bath, Maine, in 1762, where he purchased the tract of 
land on which to this day is located the Sewall mansions 
and shipyards. 

William D. Sewall, the father of Arthur, entered 
upon the business of ship-building at Bath, in 1825, 
and his shipyards soon became famous the world over 
for the staunch, fleet and beautifully modeled vessels it 
turned out. From its first product, the pretty little 
sail-ship, Diana, launched in 1825, to the exquisitely 
lined monster, the steel steamer, Dirigo, launched in 
1894, the Sewall shipyards have easily led the country 
in designs for merchantmen, and, at this writing, the 
Sewall ship-building firm can boast that it owns the 
largest sailor merchantman afloat. 

Arthur Sewall was born in Bath, Me., Nov. 25, 1835, 
He was liberally educated, and at once entered the ship< 
building business with his father, in the early fifties, 
This step meant that his future destiny was to be in- 
separable from the creation and sailing of American 
ships, for the Sewalls made ships not only for others 

(555) 



556 LIFE OF ARTHUR SEW ALL. 

but for themselves, and out of tlie great number they have 
built since the establishment of their plant, they have 
owned and sailed ninety-five. 

Arthur Sevvall succeeded to his father's business in con- 
i junction with his brother, under the firm name of E. and 
A. Sewall. Since then the firm has been changed and ex- 
panded by the introduction of his son, William D. Sewall, 
and his nephew, Samuel S. Sewall, the firm name being 
A. Sewall & Co. 

Through natural taste for his business, aided bj full 
acquaintance with its details and an interest in maritime 
affairs, Arthur Sewall has made a conspicuous success in 
his calling. But the prominence -it has given him in a 
business way, not only in the merchant marine but among 
home associates, measures but little in comparison with 
the high place he has attained in the world of affairs out- 
side of his shipbuilding occupation. 

No single occupation, however, intricate and taxing, 
could limit energy and ability such as his. He extended 
liis business prowess to various other enterprises and be- 
came successful in all, adding greatly to his civic and 
political influence as well as to his material means. In 
time he came to rank among Maine's most substantial 
capitalists and his advice and managerial powers were in 
request by nearly every important corporation in his 
county and vicinity. Pie was for nine years president of 
the Maine Central Railroad, and resigned in 1893, but 
only to give place to a successor who fully represented his 
business policy respecting the management of the road, 
and who shared his tact in carrying it out. 

He is a director in many railroads of his own, and ad- 
joining states, and was at one time prominent in the man- 
asrement of the Mexican Central and Sonora Railw ay. He 



LIFE OF ARTHUR SEWALL. 5-37 

is also president of tlie Fourth National Bank of Maine, 
and a director and trusted advisor of tlie leadino- manu- 
facturing concerns of Sagadahock County. In all his 
numerous business ventures he has shown himself to be a 
keen, progressive man of affairs. Under his management 
he changed the Main Central from a third rate to a first- 
class railroad, with steel rails and all modern equipments. 

Though a lifelong Democrat, he has never felt bound to 
follow blindly the tenets of his party, but has always had 
an o[)inion of his own, especially respecting matters relating 
to finance, the tariff and merchant marine. Thus, when 
the question of admitting the steamships City of New 
York and City of Paris to American registry was up in 
Congress, and was exciting shippers and shipbuilders all 
over the country, he stepped forward as one of the 
largest builders of sailing ships in the country and showed 
so conclusively that the measure under discussion would 
prove a step toward a revival of our merchant marine, as to 
convince such Republicans as Senator Fry and Congress- 
man Dingley, and secure their indorsement. 

When a few years ago he completed that magnificent 
fleet of ships, of which the Roanoke is a type, he decided, 
and he was the first New England shipbuilder to do so that 
the time of wood in the ocean marine was past ; that the 
age of steel had come. After a prolonged visit to the 
great yards in England and Ireland he returned to Bath 
and put up a complete modern steel plant. 

The part of his whole life, and that in which he takes the 
greatest interest, is his career as a shipbuilder and ship 
owner. His belief in the future of American shi|>ping has 
never flagged, even when he saw so many of the associates 
of his )'outh go out of the business. 

For the past eight years Mr. Sewall has been MainL'"s 
31 



5-38 LIFE OF ARTHUR SEW ALL. 

representative on the Democratic National Committee 
until a short time ago, when Dr. S. H. C. Gordon 
succeeded him. He was an original Cleveland man and 
followed the career of the Buffalo statesman up until a 
couple of years ago notwithstanding the fact that he 
shared something of the protection views of the late Samuel 
J. Randall. Ever since the greenback victory which 
swept over Maine, Mr. Sewall has been a close student of 
financial question, and this has crystallized in him to a 
thorough belief in bimetallism and the free coinage of 
both silver and gold. Mr. Sewall was a candidate for 
Unites States Senator against Senator Eugene Hale in 
1893. 

In 1859 Mr. Sewall married Emily Duncan Crooker, 
daughter of a prominent citizen of Bath. Three children 
were born to them. Harold Sewall, former Consul- 
General to Samoa, William Sewall, a junior member of 
the shipbuilding firm, and Demmer Sewall who died in 
infancy. Harold Sewall was sent to Samoa at the time 
of the Samoan outbreak, by President Cleveland. Later 
he became a Republican and at the recent Convention in 
St. Louis lie headed a Reed Republican Club from Bath. 

Though Mr. Sewall, born in 1835, is over sixty years of 
age, he does not look to be over forty-five. He is a 
splendid example of physical maidiood, carries himself 
with a soldierly beaiing and is what might be termed a 
fine looking man. His liair and mustache are slightly 
tinged with gray, but the wrinkles of age have scarcely 
made their appearance on his face. 

All who know him accord to him the highest business 
ability, honesty, persistency and foresight. His manners 
are straight forward even to brusqueness, and in the ex- 
pression of Ids thoughts for the public ear, he makes no 



LIFE OF AETHUR SEWAI,L. 559 

pretentions to oratory or magnetism. Tliougli not a 
society man, in the ordinary acceptation of that term, he 
is lovable and loyal when once liis acquaintance is made. 
Always a large employer of labor, he has ever treated it 
justly, and thereby escaped the trouble of protest by 
strikes and other violent means. He is a practical work- 
man himself, and when occasion required could pick up 
tools and show a man how his work should be done. 

In religion, Mr. Sewall is a member of the Swedenbor- 
gian Church, and a liberal contributor to the church in 
his parish. He finds his social outlet in occasional visits 
to the Sagadahock Club of Bath, of which he is a mem- 
ber. He is also a member of the Dunlap Commandery, 
Knight Templars, but is not active in its councils. He is 
distinctively a home man, and in this shares the tastes of 
his wife, who is in many ways a remarkable woman. 
Bright, well educated, with a peculiar grace and charm uf 
manner when she M-ants to show it, her reticence deprives 
her of what the world calls popularity. Mrs. Sewall, after 
attending several New England schools, was sent to the 
famous Ipswich Institution, where she finished her educa- 
tion. She traveled in Europe for several years after that 
and returned to America an unusually accomplished girl. 
Mrs. Sewall has an artistic temperament, to which a largo 
collection of water colors, landscape photogra})hs and 
sketches made by her on two continents bear \\itnoss. 
Gifted with the power of observation and with the abilitj'- 
to recognize the interesting, her reminiscences of European 
life are charming whenever they are called up in the com- 
panionship of her intimate friends. Mrs. SewalTs health 
has not been good for several 3'ears, though she is in no 
sense an invalid, and she is compelled to exercise care and 



SnO LIFE OP ARTHUR SEW ALL. 

has not been so prominent in society as miglit otherwise 
have been the case. 

She lias been a student and a wide reader, and is profi- 
cient in French, wliich has always been a favorite lan- 
guage with her. She is thoroughly acquainted with this 
country, having visited every part of it. She has crossed 
the Pacific on every transcontinental line, and her camera 
has caught for her bits of scenery in almost every corner 
of the land. She is an expert amateur photographer, and 
has received diplomas for her work in Paris, New Yoik 
and Boston. 

The visitor to the Sewall mansion ascends a smooth 
walk across a sloping lane, and on the wide porch over- 
looks the Kennebec and the yards where the Sewalls, father 
and son, have turned out a hundred ships, and he sees 
every evidence of good trade in the grounds that surround 
the mansion. 

The house is one that evidently cost its owner much 
money and thought, still it is not what the world calls a 
handsome one. There is an air of comfort and refine- 
ment, and little show about it. Mrs. Sewall's taste is seen 
everywhere about the house — in the books in the library, 
in the pictures on the wall, and in the curtains and rugs. 
Outside in the grounds and ihe stable it is Mr. Sewall's 
idea that is dominant everywhere. They have divided the 
task of home making, and apparently it is a success. Mr. 
Sewall is very fond of his ground and garden, and none 
handsomer is to be seen in Maine. He is also fond of good 
horses, and his stable is well stocked with blooded animals. 
He is often seen behind a pair of handsome blacks in the 
streets or on the country roads near the city, in fact, his 
time is divided between his office, his home and the road 
when he is in Bath. 



LIFE OF ARTHUR SEWALL. 5G1 

Wlien Mr. Sewall went as a delegate lo the Chicago 
Convention of 1806, he canied along with him ])r()iionnced 
convictiijiis as to free silver coinage, hut no tlioiiglil of be- 
coniing a candidate for the Vice Presidency. Al^^•a3•s will- 
ing to serve his party, he had no ambitions to fill public 
office. But circumstances were such that the trend of 
sentiment toward his candidacy became inevitable. His 
conspicuous position in the councils of his party, the fact 
that Mr. Bryan, of Nebraska, had been placed at the head 
of the ticket, thus rendering the choice of an Eastern run- 
ning mate desirable, and the additional fact that there 
were many aspirants for the honor of second place in 
Western sections, whose differences could not be recon- 
ciled, all pointed to Mr. Sewall as the candidate in whom 
centred the best elements of availability and the sound- 
est reasons for choice. 

His name was presented to the Convention by his friend, 
William R. Burk, of California, in the following brief and 
pointed speech : 

" Mr. Chairman and members of the Convention : — 
What I shall say to you at this juncture I know in one re- 
spect will commend itself to 3'ou. Taking into account 
the great mission which has called us into convention, it 
seems to me that we should consider matters far bej'ond 
the reach of this great body. We should consider that 
there are people whom we represent, who have to vote on 
this great question. Therefore, geographical considera- 
tions should prompt us, as well as the question of ability. 
It would not become me to say auglit of any gentleman 
whose name has been brought before you in this connec- 
tion. 

"But it seems to me that when we come to make up the 
remaining portion of this ticket, we should consider those 



562 



LtFE OF ARTHUR SEWALL. 



States beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains. And in that 
connection I present a candidate who represents every 
element which is presented to you in your platform and in 
your distinguished candidate for the Presidency, Mr, Wil- 
liam J. Bryan. I take pleasure in presenting for your 
careful consideration the name of Arthur Sewall, of Maine. 
And, Mr. President, it may be well said of him in con- 
nection with the great questions involved in this matter 
and tlie interests which are before you, that he Avill fulfill 
the pledges which have been made b}' 3'our platform. You 
will make no mistake in nominating him." (Applause.) 

Among the other candidates whose names had been 
placed in nomination, were those of Sibley, Penna.; Mc- 
Lean, Ohio ; Williams, Mass.; Boies, Iowa ; Bland, Mo.; 
Blackburn, Ky.; Daniel, Va. Th ballots cast resulted as 
follows : 

First Ballot. 



Sibley, 




. 163 


Sewall, 




. 100 


McLean, . . . . 




. Ill 


Williams, (Mass.,) 




. 76 


Boies, . . . . 




. 20 


Bland, . . . . 




. 62 


Clark, 




. 50 


Lewis, 




. 11 


Williams, (111.), 




22 


Blackburn, 




! 20 


Daniel, 




. 11 


Scattering, 




. 24 


Absent or not voting, 




. 260 



Second Ballot. 



Sibley, 
Sewall, 



113 

37 



LIFE OF AltTHUR SEW ALL. 




iMcLean, ..... 


. 164 


Williams, (Mass.), .... 


. 16 


Bland, 


. 288 


Clark, 


. 22 


Williams, (ill.), . . , 


. 13 


Scattering', . . . . '. 


. 22 


Absent or not voting, 


. 255 


Third Ballot. 




Sibley, .,..•• 


. 50 


Sewall, ,...«. 


. 97 


McLean, 


. 210 


Williams, (Mass.), .... 


. 19 


Bland, 


. 255 


Clark, 


. 22 


Scattering, 


. 25 


Absent or not voting, . ... 


. 255 


Fourth Ballot. 




Sewall, ...... 


. 261 


McLean, ...... 


. 298 


Clark, ...... 


. 46 


Daniel, ...... 


. 54 


Scattering, ..... 


. 21 


Absent or not voting, 


. 250 



5G.'i 



On the fiftli ballot the name of Mr. McLean, who had 
reached the limit of his strength, was withdrawn and the 
ballot was practically unanimous for Mr. Sewall. He was 
warmly congratulated over his nomination by his friends 
at Chicago, and at once became the recipient of hundreds 
of congratulatory telegrams from all parts of the country. 
On his return home he was received with an ovation by 
the people of Bath, without distinction of party, who were 
delighted over the fact that so distinguished an honor had 
been conferred on their fellow townsman. 



THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 



We, the Democrats of the United States, in National 
convention assembled, do reaffirm our allegiance to those 
great essential principles of justice and liberty upon 
which our institutions are founded, and which the Demo- . 
cratic party has advocated from Jefferson's time to our 
own — freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom 
of conscience, the preservation of personal right, the 
equality of all citizens before the law, and the faithful 
observance of constitutional limitations. 

During all these years, the Democratic party has 
resisted the tendency of selfish interests to the centrali- 
zation of governmental power, and steadfastly maintained 
the integrity of the dual scheme of government estab- 
lished by the. founders of this republic of republics. 
Under its guidance and teachings, the great principle of 
local self-government has found its best expression in 
the maintenance of the rights of the States, and in its 
assertion of the necessity of confining the general gov- 
ernment to the exercise of the powers granted by the 
Constitution of the United States. 

Recognizing that the money system is paramount to 
all others at this time, we invite attention to the fact 
that the Federal Constitution names silver and gold 
together as the money-metals of the United States, and 
that the first coinage law passed by Congress, under the 
Constitution, made the silver dollar the monetary unit 
r.G4 



THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 565 

and admitted gold to free coinage at a ratio based upon 
the silver dollar unit. 

We declare that the act of 1873 demonetizing silver 
without the knowledge or approval of the American peo- 
ple has resulted in the appreciation of gold and a corres- 
ponding fall in the price of commodities produced by the 
people; a heavy increase in the burden of taxation, and 
of all debts, public and private ; the enrichment of the 
money-lending class at home and abroad ; prostration of 
industry and impoverishment of the people. 

We are unalterably opposed to monometallism, which 
has locked fast the prosperity of an industrial peo[)le in 
the paralysis of hard times. Gold monometallism is a 
British policy, and its adoption has brouglit other nations 
into financial servitude to London. It is not only un- 
American, but anti-American, and it can be fastened on 
the United States only by the stifling of that spirit and 
love of liberty which proclaimed our political independ- 
ence in 1776 and won it in the War of the Revolution. 

We demand the free and unlimited coinage of both 
gold and silver at the present legal ratio of 16 to 1 with- 
• out waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation. 
We demand that the standard silver dollar shall be a 
full legal tender equally with gold for all debts, public 
and private, and we favor such legislation as will prevent 
for the future the demonetization of any kind of legal 
tender money by private contract. 

We are opposed to the policy and practice of surrender- 
ing to the holders of obligations of the United States the 
option reserved by law to the Government of redeeming 
such obligations in either silver coin or gold coin. 

We are opposed to the issuing of interest-bearing bonds 
of the United States in time of peace, and condemn the 



5G6 *HE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM 

trafficking with banking syndicates, which, in exchange 
fur bonds and at an enormous profit to tlieniselves, supply 
the Federal Treasury with gold to maintain the policy of 
gold monometallism. 

Congress alone has the power to coin and issue money, 
and President Jackson declared that this power could 
not be delegated to corporations or individuals. We 
therefore demand that the power to issue notes to circu- 
late money be taken from the National Banks and that 
all paper money sliall be issued directly by the Tieasury 
Department and be redeemable in coin and receivable for 
all debts, public and private. 

We hold that tariff duties should be levied for purposes 
of revenue, such duties to be so adjusted as to operate 
equally throughout the country, and not discriminate 
between class or section, and that taxation should be 
limited by the needs of the Government honestly and 
economically administered. We denounce as disturbing 
to business the Republican threat to restore the McKinley 
law, which has been twice condemned by the people in 
national elections, and which, enacted under the false plea 
of protection to home industr}', proved a prolific breeder 
of trusts and monopolies, enriched the few at the expense 
of the many, restricted trade, and deprived the producers 
of the great American staples of access to their natural 
markets. Until the money question is settled we are 
opposed to any agitation for further changes in our tariff 
laws, except such as are necessaiy to make up tlie deficit 
in revenue caused by the adverse decision of the Supreme 
Court on the income tax. 

There would be no deficit in the revenue but for the 
Annulment by the Supreme Court of a law passed by a 
Democratic Congress in strict pursuance of the uniform 



THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 5(37 

decisions of lliat court for nciirly one liiindved years, 
that court having under that decision sustained Cduslitu- 
tioiial objections to its enactment which have been over- 
ruled by the ablest Judges who had ever sat on thai 
bench. 

We declare that it is the duty of Congress to use all 
the constitutional power which leniains after that de- 
cision, or which may come from its reversal by the court 
as it may hereafter be constituted, so that the burdens of 
taxation may be equally and impartially laid to the end 
that wealth may bear its proportion of the expenses of the 
Government. 

We hold that the most efficient way of protecting 
American labor is to prevent the importation of foreign 
pauper hibor to compete in the home market, and that the 
value of the home market to our American farmers and 
artisans is greatly reduced b}' a vicious monetary system 
which depresses the prices of their products below the 
cost of production and thus deprives them of the means 
of purchasing the products of our liome manufactures. 

The absorption of wealth by the few, the consolidation 
of our leading railroad systems, and the formation of trusts 
and pools require a stricter control by the Federal Gov- 
ernment of those arteries of commerce. We demand the 
enlargement of the powers of the Interstate Commerce 
Commission and such restrictions and guarantees in tlie 
control of railroads as will protect the people from robbery 
and oppression. 

We denounce the piofligate waste of the money wrung 
from the people by oppressive taxation and the lavish ap- 
propriations of recent Republican Congresses, which have 
kept caxes high, wdiile the labor that pays them is nnem- 
pioyed and the products of the people's toil are depressed 



568 THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 

in prices till they no lunger repay the cost of production. 
We demand a return to that siuipliiity and economy which 
befit a Democratic Government and a reduction in the 
number of useless offices, the salaries of which diain the 
substance of the people. 

We denounce the arbitrary interference by Federal 
authorities in local alVairs as a violation of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States and a crime against free institu- 
liuus, and we especially object to Government by injunc- 
tion as a new and highly dangerous form of oppression, by 
which the Federal Judges, in contempt of the laws of the 
States and rights of citizens, become at once legislators, 
Judges and executioners, and we approve the bill passed 
at the last session of the United States Senate, and now 
pending in the House, relative to contempts in Federal 
courts and providing for trials by jury in certain cases of 
contempt. 

No discrimination should be indulged in by the Gov- 
ernment of the United States in favor of any of its debtors. 
We approve of the refusal of the Fifty-third Congress to 
pass the Pacific railroads funding bill, and denounce the 
effort of the present Republican Congress to enact a sim- 
ilar measure. 

Recognizing the just claims of deserving Union soldiers, 
we heartilj' indorse the rule of the present Commissioner 
of Peni^ions that no names shall be arbitrarily dropped 
from the pension roll, and the fact of enlistment and serv- 
ice should be deemed conclusive evidence against disease 
and disability before the enlistment. 

We favor the admission of the Territories of New Mex- 
ico and Arizona into the Union as States, and we favor 
the early admission of all the Territories having the nec- 
essary population and resources to entitle them to State- 



THE DEIMOCRATIC PLATFORM. 5G9 

hood, iiud while they remain Territories we liold that the 
officials appointed to administer the government oF any 
Territory, together with the District of Columbia and 
Alaska, should be bona fide residents of the Territory or 
district in which their duties are to be performed. The 
Democratic jiarty believes in iiome rule, and that all pub- 
lic lands of the United States should be appropriated to 
the establishment of free homos for American citizens. 

We recommend that the Territory of Alaska be granted 
a delegate in Congress, and that the general land and 
timber laws of the United States be extended to said 
Territory. 

We extend our sympathy to the people of Cuba in their 
heroic struggle for liberty and independence. 

We are opposed to life teiuire in the public service. We 
favor appointments based upon merit, fixed terms of office, 
and such an administration of the civil service laws as will 
afford equal opportunities to all citizens of ascertained 
ficuess. 

We declare it to be the unwritten law of this Republic, 
established by custom and usage of one hundred years, 
and sanctioned by the examples of the greatest and wisest 
of those who founded and have maintained our Govern- 
ment, that no man should be eligible for a third term of 
the Presidential office. 

The Federal Government should care for and improve 
the Mississippi River and other great waterways of the 
Republic, so as to secure for the interior States easy and 
cheap transportation to tide water. When any waterway 
of the Republic is of sufficient importance to demand aid 
of the Government, such aid should be extended upon a 
definite plan of continuous work until permanent improve- 
ment is secured. 



570 THE DEMOCRATIC PLATFOKM. 

Confiding in the justice of our cause and the necessity 
of its success at the polls, we submit the foregoing declara- 
tion of principles and purposes to the considerate judg- 
ment of the American people. We invite the sup.port of 
all citizens who approve them and who desire tu have them 
made effective through legislation for the relief of the 
people and the restoration of the country's prosperitj^ 

The following paragraph was added to the preamble : 

" The Constitution of the United States guarantees to 
every citizen the rights of civil and religious liberty. The 
Democratic party has alwa3's been the exponent of politi- 
cal liberty and religious freedom, and it renews its obli- 
gations and reaffirms its devotion to these fundamental 
principles of the Constitution." 

And this plank was inserted : 

" We are in favor of the arbitration of differences be- 
tween employers engaged in interstate commerce and their 
employees, and recommend such legislation as is necessary 
to carry out this principle." 



LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 



Prohibit roN Candidate for President, with Plat- 
form AND Convention Proceedings. 

Joshua Levering, the nominee of the Prohibition 
Party for the Presidency of the United States in 1896, 
was born in Baltimore, Md., on September 12, 1845. His 
present residence in the city was the spot of his birtli. He 
has always resided in Baltimore, and his fortunes have al- 
ways been closely linked with the city's growth and wel- 
fare. 

His father was Eugene Levering, one of Baltimore's 
oldest and most extensive merchants, who was for vears 
engaged in the business of exporting flour, provisions and 
other American products to the different ports of Brazil, 
and. importing coffee from the same. 

Joshua Levering was acquiring his education in the pri- 
vate schools of his native city when the Civil War broke 
out. Its exigencies compelled him to close his school 
career and turn his attention to gainful pursuits. He en- 
tered upon a clerical life, which he continued till 1806, 
when he and his two brothers entered business with tlieir 
father, under the firm name of E. Levering & Co. The 
father died in 1870, since wliich time the business has 
been carried on jointly by the three brothers, in a much 
enlarged form, the firm having several branch houses in 
Brazil. 

Mr. Levering married Martha W. Keyser, daughter of 

(571) 



572 LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVKRING. 

Charles Maris Keyser, of Baltimore, in 1870. The issue 
of this marriage was three sons and four daughters. Mis 
Levering died in May, 1888. In March, 1892, Mr. Lever- 
ing married his fiist wife's sister, Margaret L Keyser, ^\ ho 
died in August, 1895. 

Though actively and arduously engaged in a large and 
responsible business, few citizens of Baltimore hold more 
conspicuous place in the work that counts for a great city's 
social estate, philanthropy, moral and mental status, and 
general enterprise. Of excellent judgment, boundless en- 
energy, unswerving probity, and pleasing demeanor, his 
life has been a series of rapid, complimentary steps to the 
hio-hest esteem of his fellow men, the implicit confidence 
of the public, and the most responsible civic and political 
trusts. 

Li 1857, at the early age of twelve years, he united 
with the Baptist Church, under the preaching of Rev. 
Jacob Knapp, and in 1871, became a constituent member 
of the Eutaw Place Baptist Church of Baltimore, which 
connection he has since retained. He has been Super- 
intendent of the Sunday school of this church since 188!. 

He easily ranks as one of the most energetic, liberal and 
prominent members of his denomination, and in 1888 was 
a prime mover and helper in the organization of the 
American Baptist Educational Society, whose tresisurer 
he became, and which responsible post he has held ever 
since. In 1885 he was elected President of the Young 
Men's Christian Association of Baltimore, and has been 
unanimously reelected ever since. 

He was once elected as Vice President of the Southern 
Baptist Convention. In 1886, he was chosen President 
of the House of Refuge of Maryland, and in appreciation 
of his useful and satisfactory services in this charitable 



LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 573 

field lie has been reelected to the same responsible posi- 
tion annually ever since. 

lie also holds the honorablo position of President of the 
Board of Trustees of the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary, at Louisville, Ky., is Vice President of the 
American Baptist Publication Society, and is one of tlie 
directors of the Maryland Trust Company and of the 
Provident Savi^ngs' Bank of Baltimore. 

In 1881 he connected himself with the Prohibition 
cause and has ever since been one of its ablest, most 
earnest and consistent exponents. The same qualities of 
head and heart, the same energy and devotion to purpose, 
that have endeared him to his fellow men and imposed on 
him so many business trusts and civic honors, soon opened 
for him wide avenues to political distinction. He be- 
came a trusted counsellor and favorite leader in his party, 
and, in 1887, presided as chairman of the Prohibition 
Convention of his State. He occupied the same post of 
honor and responsibility in the State Convention of 1893. 
In 1888, he was a delegate of his party to the National 
Prohibition Convention at Indianapolis, and in 1892 he 
was a delegate to the National Convention at Cincinnati. 
On the latter occasion he declined the honor of a nomina- 
tion for the Vice Presidency of the United States in favor 
of Dr. E. B. Cranfill. 

In 1891, Mr. Levering received the nomination of his 
party for State Controller, and in 1895 he was nominated 
by his party for Governor of the State of Maryland. 
After an energetic campaign he increased the Prohibition 
vote of his State to 8,000, a gain of fifty per cent, over 
any previous vote cast for a Prohibition nominee in the 
State. 

After so rapid a rise in the councils and esteem of his 
82 



574 LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 

party, it was but natural that liis name should be con- 
.spicuous in the National Cunvention of 1896, in connec- 
ti(jn with the highest honors at its disposal, This Con- 
vention met in Pittsburg, on May 27 and 28, 1896. It 
was the seventh National Convention in the history of 
the party, and one of the largest and most broadly repre- 
sentative. It was also to be one of greater excitement 
and intensity of feeling than any other. 

Long before it assembled there was manifest a factious 
disposition in the party respecting the dominant questions 
of free coinage of silver and woman's suffrage. The ad- 
vocates of the first of these two principles, became known 
as " broad-gagers." They insisted that what they advo- 
wited should be incorporated in the National platform. 
Their opponents, that is, those who insisted that the plat- 
form should not be weighted with embarrassing ques- 
tions, became known as "narrow-gagers," or "straight 
Prohibitionists." 

The battle royal for the control of the party manage- 
ment and for the shaping of its future policy upon the 
above lines, began in the Committee on Platform. In 
that tribunal every inch of ground was hotly contested, 
but without evidence of other than some satisfactory 
agreement in the end, until a vote was reached on the 
plank favoring the free coinage of silver. This test 
showed the free silverites, or "broad-gagers" to be in a 
minority in the Committee, and led to a presentation to 
the Convention of a majority and minority report. 

The scene of battle thus shifted, its bitterness was 
speedily renewed by the introduction of the majority and 
minority reports of the Committee on llesolutions. 



LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. hi -J 

The Majority Report. 

Che Prohibition party, in National Convention as- 
sembled, at Pittsburg, Pa., May 27, 189G, acknowledg- 
ing Almighty God as the source of all power in Govern- 
nicnt, do hereby declare: 

"First — We hold, with the United States Supreme 
Court, that the statistics of every State show a greuter 
amount of crime and misery attributed to the use of 
ardent spirits obtained at retail liquor-saloons than to any 
other source. We maintain that the liquor dealers cor- 
rupt legislation, debauch voters, bribe officials, intimidate 
public men, control political parties, and make good gov- 
ernment in the centres of population impossible. 

" Second — We are unalterably opposed to the alcholic 
drink traffic, and declare for the suppression of the manu- 
facture, sale, importation, exportation, and transportation 
of intoxicatijig liquors for beverage purposes. We 
utterly reject all plans for regulating or compromising 
with this traffic, whether such plan be Local Option, 
taxation, license, or public control. 

" Third — We call the attention of wage-earners to the 
fact that the enormous waste caused by the liquor traffic 
is inevitably at the cost of production, and we maintain 
that success for the Prohibition party will remove tliis 
great burden from industry. 

"Fourth — We stand unequivocally foi- good govern- 
ment honestly and economically administered in every 
detail. We stand for fullest protection of the elective 
franchise, which is the basis of our civil liberties. With 
the destruction of the liquor power, the greatest cor- 
rupter and debaucher of votes and voters will have dis- 
appeared, and the people and their representatives will be 
free to promote the best interest of all. 

" Fifth — There is no greater peril to the nation than the 
competition of political parties for the liquor vote, and 
any party not openly opposed to the saloon will engage in 
such competition, court the favor of the criminal classes, 



576 LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 

aiul barter away public morals and the purity of the 
ballot. 

'•'• Sixth — We call upon voters to enforce the declara- 
tions of the churches against the liquor traffic b}^ support- 
ing the Prohibition party, which aims to settle the only 
political question upon which tlie churches make de- 
liverances; and we maintain that a new era of political 
rigliteousness will come when the voting members of the 
churches stand at the ballot-box in State and National 
elections for principles and candidates of the Prohibition 
party." 

Those opposed to divisive issues wanted to stop right 
here, but the " broad-gage " folks wanted to say more and 
presented the following as a minority report : 

The Platform Which the Minority Wanted. 

" First — That all money be issued by the Government 
only and without the intervention of any private citizen, 
corporation or banking institution. It sliould be based 
upon the wealth, stability, and integrity of the nation, and 
be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private, and 
should be of sufficient volume to meet the demand of tlie 
legitimate business interests of the country, and for the 
purpose of honestly liquidating all our outstanding coin 
obligations. We demand the free and unlimited coinage 
of silver and gold at a ratio of 16 to 1, without consulting 
any other nation. 

" Second — Land is the common heritage of the people, 
and should be preserved from monojioly and speculation. 
All unearned grants of land subject to forfeiture should 
be reclaimed by the Government, and no portion of the 
public domain should hereafter be granted exce})t to 
actual settlers. Continuous use being essential to tenure. 
-:*' Third — Railroads, telegraph, and other monopolies 
should be owned and operated by the Government, giving 
to the people the benefit of service and product there- 
from at cost. 



LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING, 577 

"Fourth — The national constitution should be so 
amended as to allow the national revenues to be raised by 
equitable adjustment of taxation on the properties and in- 
comes of the people, and import duties should be levied 
only as a means of securing equitable commercial relations 
with other nations. 

" Fiftli — The contract convict labor system, through 
wliicli speculators are enriched at the expense of the state, 
should be abolished. 

" Sixth — Believing that the free expression of the 
popular will is essential in representative Government, we 
favor the adoption of the initiative and referendum. 

" Seventh — No citizen should be denied the right to 
vote on account of sex. 

" Eighth — All citizens should be protected in their 
right to one day's rest without opposing an}- one who 
consciently observes any other than the first day of the 
week. 

"Ninth — American public schools taught in the English 
language should be maintained, and no public funds 
should be applied to sectarian institutions. 

" Tenth— The President, Vice PTesident, and Senators 
of the United States should be elected hy the vote of the 
people. 

" Eleventh — Ex-soldiers and sailors should be granted 
pensions graded upon disability and time of services, not 
merely as a debt of gratitude, but for services rendered in 
the preservation of the Union. 

" Twelfth — Our immigration laws should be so secure 
as to exclude paupers and criminals ; immigrants wishing 
to become citizens should be required to register in a 
court, and the right of franchise should not be granted 
until five years thereafter. 

" Thirteenth — ^None but citizens should be allowed to 
vote in any state, and naturalized citizens slioukl not be 
allowed to vote for one year after naturalization papers 
are issued. " 

Tiie fourteenth plaidc referred to international arbitra- 
tion, and the fifteenth planlc asked for the cooperation, of 
all citizens in support of the platform. 



578 LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 

The conflict opened over a motion to make the minority 
report a part of tlie majority report. The " broad-gagers^" 
or free silverites, carried this by a vote of 492 to 310. The 
phitform was then taken up and considered section by 
section. When the free silver plank was reached it gave 
rise to a prolonged and heated debate, which engaged the 
best minds in the convention and proved an opportun- 
ity for such an exhibition of eloquence as is seldom wit- 
nessed. The result was the defeat of the free silver plank 
by a vote of 387 to 427. i 

Now came the most interesting episodes of the Conven- 
tion, and of a kind which must pi'ove far reaching in their 
effects on the future of the Prohibition party. One was 
the leap of the Convention from a compound to a simple 
platform. 

This leap was taken on motion of R. H. Patton, of 
Springfield, 111., a free silver advocate, who moved as a 
substitute for all planks adopted or proposed a single issue 
platform. This was the occasion for another interesting 
debate, free, however, from the acrimonies of the former 
one. The majority drifted strongly to the single issue 
idea, which was given the following form, and made the 
sentiment of the Convention by a decisive vote : 

The Prohibition Platform. 

'' We, the members of the Prohibition party, in national 
convention assembled, renewing our declaration of alle- 
giance to Almighty God as the rightful ruler of the uni- 
verse, lay down the following as our declaration of political 
pur])ose. 

" The Prohibition party, in national convention assem- 
bled, declares its firm conviction that the manufacture, 
exportation, importation, and sale of alcoholic beverages 
has produced such social, commercial, industrial, andpolit- 



LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 570 

ical wrongs and is now so threatening to the perpetuity of 
all our social and political institutions, that tlie suppres- 
sion of the same by a national party organized therefor, is 
the greatest object to be accomplished by the voters of our 
country, and is of such importance that it, of right, ought 
to control the political actions of all our patriotic citizens 
until such suppression is accomplished. 

" The urgency of this course demands the union with- 
out further delay of all citizens who desire the prohibition 
of the liquor traffic ; therefore be it 

" Resolved, That we favor the legal prohibition by state 
and national legislation of the manufacture, importation I 
and sale of alcoholic beverages. That we declare our I 
pui pose to organize and unite all the friends of Prohibi- 
tion into one party, and in order to accomplish this end we 
deem it of right to leave every Prohibitionist the freedom 
of his own convictions upon all other political questions, 
and trust our representatives to take such action upon 
other political questions as the changes occasioned by 
Prohibition and the welfare of the whole people shall 
demand. " 

Tlie convention did not feel like leaving out the usual 
suffrage plank, which had for so many years held an 
-honored place in the platform, so, upon motion of Mrs. 
2lla A. Boole, of New York, it passed the following reso- 
lution, the vote being almost unanimous : 

Resolved, " The right of suffrage ought not to be 
abridged on account of sex. " 

Another episode was the withdrawal of the "broad- 
gagers " from further participation in the Convention, and 
the setting up of a new Prohibition party with candidates 
representing its principles. 

The regular Convention was now free to complete its 
work, which it proceeded to do with harmonious earnest- 
ness. The trend of sentiment had all along pointed to 
Mr. Levering as the one to be honored with the nomina- 



580 LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 

tion for the Presidency. His name was presented to the 
Convention by his friend Mr. W. F. Tucker, of Baltimore, 
who in part said : 

"Maryland has the honor of presenting a man as stand- 
ard-bearer of the Prohibition party wiio, back in 1884, did 
not hesitate to go out and work for that matchless man, 
John P. St. John, and since that time he has been work- 
ing and voting the Prohibition ticket. Until a few mo- 
ments ago he refused to allow his name to be used. He 
will not sit at home expecting the people to do his woik, 
nor confine his work to the state of Maryland or the 
South, but he will devote his time to work, so the people 
of the United States will know he is the standard-bearer 
of the Prohibition party. I hereby present the name of 
Joshua Levering, as candidate for the nomination of this 
convention." 

Perhaps no nomination in any national convention was 
ever seconded so numerously or eloquentl3^ The follow- 
ing eulogium by Mr. Hipp, of Arizona, will serve as a 
samjile of all : 

" The candidate whom I favor is worthy to lead us in 
so great a cause. A prince among men, he stands one of 
the leaders of the great church to which he belongs. In 
education, in home and foreign missionary enterprises, in 
every kind of philanthroi^ic work, he stands without a 
peer. 

" His high character and standing as a Christian man will 
add strength to our cause, and thousands upon thousands 
of votes to our party. 

" I tlierefore lieartily second the nomination of that 
spotless son of the Southland, Joshua Levering, of Marj^- 
land." 

The name of the Ex-Governor L. C. Hughes, of Arizona, 
was also presented to the Convention, but it did not serve 



LIFE OF JOSHUA LEVERING. 681 

to deflect the strong ciurent of sentiment in favor of Mr. 
Levering, whose nomination was made unanimous, amid 
the wildest enthusiasm. On being introduced to the Con- 
vention by the chairman, Mr. Stewart, Mr. Levering ac- 
cepted the trust imposed and the honor conferred, in the 
following language : 

"I would be less than human if my heart did not beat 
quirk, and every nerve pulsate with deep emotion as I 
stand before you as the candidate against the legalized 
liquor traffic of this country. When an honor comes as 
a sacrifice for humanity such as this is, it is an honor 
worth wearing. I feel my own unfitness for it, and would 
shrink from its acceptance but for one reason, and that is 
that the secular press have come to realize that we are 
earnest in our purpose and do us justice in saying that we 
are honest. Therefore I feel that I would waive my pri- 
vate interest and yield to your wishes. I am tempted to 
cry out, as did the servant of the Almighty, when he was 
called to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt — ' WIio 
am I that I should be called to lead the children out of 
the wilderness ? ' 

" Friends, trusting in the God of battles, and trusting 
in you and those you represent, I am prepared to stand 
here and accept this sacred trust, and to the extent of my 
ability I assure you that wherever the fight is thickest, the 
white flag of Prohibition will be planted. We may not 
succeed in planting our flag in the White House, but I 
think we will come near it ; but if we do the Government 
shall not be run in the interest of any trust or individual. 
I want to remind you that this great responsibility is 
yours, and the success of the campaign is not on the 
standard-bearers so much as on the rank and file. Let us 
h ive the faith to believe that right is might. God and 
humanity expect every Prohibitionist to do his duty." 



LIFE OF HON. HALE JOHNSON. 

Prohibition Candidate for Vice President. 



The subject of this biographic sketch was born in Mont- 
gomery County, Indiana, August 21, 1847. He resided 
there, receiving such education as the schools of tlie pLace 
afforded, till the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, 
when, though quite a youth, he enlisted in the 135th In- 
diana Voliniteers, and served in the cause of the Union till 
the end of the war. 

In 18d5 he moved to Illinois, and took up the study of 
law. On his' admission to the bar he made Newton, 111., 
his permauent residence. He soon acquired a lucrative 
practice there, which he still enjoys. Commensurate with 
his rise at the bar was his growth in the confidence and es- 
teem of his community. He became an active member of 
the Republican party, and was promised the honor of an 
election to the State Legislature, but on his failure to se- 
cure the adoption of a Prohibition plank in the platform 
of that party, in 1884, he left it for the Prohibition party, 
with which he has coriperated ever since. 

In 1884, he attended the National Prohibition Conven- 
tion at Pittsburg, where he favored the nomination of 
John P. St. John as a candidate for the Presidency. He 
has always been regarded by his party as one of its ablest 
exponents and most earnest workers. Nor is he less ;i 
worker in other directions. He is a devout and highly es 
teemed member of the Christian Church, a past-com- 
(682) 



LIFE OF HON. HALE JOHNSON. 683 

mander of the Grand Army of the Rei^ublic, and a colonel 
in the Veteran Comniandery. 

He was a delegate to tlie Prohibition National Conven- 
tion of 1896, at Pittsburg, May 27th and 28th, where, 
during the heated controversy between the "broad-gage" 
and "narrow-gage "' factions, he distinguished himself by 
a masterly effort to harmonize the antagonistic forces. 
The impression he made on the Convention proved to be 
so deep that he was singled out as the one most fitting to 
bear the honors of a nomination for the Vice Presidency 
of the United States. 

His name was presented to the Convention in an elo- 
quent speech by Chairman Dickie. His running oppo- 
nent was ex-Governor L. C. Hughes, of Arizona, whose 
name had been before the Convention as a candidate for 
the Presidency. The ballot resulted in 809 votes for John- 
son and 132 for Hughes. The motion to make the nomi- 
nation unanimous was carried without dissent. The final 
result was the signal for an ovation such as had crowned the 
nomination of Joshua Levering as candidate for President. 
Mr. Johnson was escorted to the platform and introduced 
to the Convention, when he accepted the responsible trust 
and acknowledged the high honors in one of his characteris- 
tically, eloquent and inspiring speeches. 



THE NATIONAL PARTY AND PLATFORM 
OF 1896. 



The National Party was formed of those who 
bolted the Prohibition Convention at Pittsbnrg, in May, 
1896. The bolting body was known in Convention as 
" Broad Gagers." They nominated the following ticket at 
Pittsburg : 

For President, Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska. 
For Vice President, James H. Southgate, of North 
Carolina. 

Their Platform and appeal to the people of the United 
States, are as follows : 

Liberty, Justice, Equality. 

To the People of the United States-: 

The inalienable right of each citizen to affiliate with 
that political party which he regards as the best ex- 
ponent of his own views, will hardly be questioned in a 
free country. 

Neither will it be disputed that this right involves the 
right of any body of citizens to organize a new part}^ 
whenever they are unable to find among existing parties 
one which they regard as a satisfactory exponent of their 
views. 

But when a new party is organized and other citizens 
(584) 



THE NATIONAL PARTY AND I'LATFOllM. 085 

are invited to sunder former party ties in order to give it 
support, it is but just and proper that those concerned in 
the organization of such new party should present to tlie 
people a fair statement of the reasons for its organizatii ii 
and of the grounds on which support for its ticket is 
claimed. 

The National Party was organized at Pittsburg, Pa., 
on ^lay 29, 1896. There were present participating in 
the organization of this party over three hundred men and 
women, representing twenty-seven States. The purpose 
of this party is to secure control of the government in 
State and Nation, and so administer it tliat "Liberty, 
Justice and Equality" may prevail. 

The principles and purposes of this party are set forth 
in the following platform : 

The National party, recognizing God as the author of 
all just power in government, presents the following 
declaration of principles, which it pledges itself to enact 
into effective legislation when given the power to do so. 

1. The suppression of the manufacture and sale, im- 
portation, exportation and transportation of intoxicating 
liquors for beverage purposes. We utterly reject all 
plans for regulating or compromising with this traffic, 
whether such plans be called local option, taxation, license 
or public control. The sale of liquors for medicinal and 
other legitimate uses should be conducted by the State, 
without profit, and with such regulations as will prevent 
fraud or evasion. 

2. No citizen should be denied the right to vote on 
account of sex. 

3. All money should be issued by the general Govern- 
ment only, and without the intervention of any private 
citizen, corporation or banking institution. It should be 



586 THE NATIONAL PARTY AND PLATFORM. 

bused upon the wealth, stability and integrity of the 
Nation. It should be a full legal tender for all debts, 
public and private, and should be of sufficient volume to 
meet the demands of the legitimate business interests of 
the countr3% For the purpose of honestl}' liquidating our 
outstanding coin obligations, we favor the free and un- 
limited coinage of both silver and gold, at the ratio of 16 
to 1, without consulting any other nation. 

4. Land is the common heritage of the people and 
sliould be preserved from monopoly and speculation. All 
unearned grants of land, subject to forfeiture, should be 
reclaimed by the Government, and no portion of the public 
domain should hereafter be granted except to actual set- 
tlers, continuous use being essential to tenure. 

5. Railroads, telegraphs and other natural monopolies 
should be owned and operated by the Government, giving 
to the people the benefit of service at actual cost. 

6. The national constitution should be so amended as 
to allow the national revenues to be raised by equitable 
adjustment of taxation on the projjerties and incomes of 
the people, and important duties should be levied as a 
means of securing equitable commercial relations with 
other nations. 

7. Tlie contract convict labor system, tlirough which 
speculators are enriched at the expense of the State, should 
be abolished. 

8. All citizens should be protected by law in their right 
to one day of rest in seven, without oppressing any who 
conscientiously observe any other than the first day of tlie 
week. 

9. The American public schools, taught in the English 
language, should be maintained, and no public funds 
should be appropriated for sectarian institutions. 



THE NATIONAL TARTY AND PLATFORM. 587 

10. The President, Vice President and United States 
Senators should be elected by direct vote of the people. 

11. Ex-soldiers and sailors of the United States army 
and navy, their widows and n)inor children, should re- 
ceive liberal pensions, graded on disability and term of 
service, not merely as a debt of gratitude, but for service 
rendered in the preservation of the Union. 

12. Our immigration laws should be so revised as to ex- 
clude paupers and criminals. None but citizens of the 
United States should be allowed to vote in any State, and 
naturalized citizens should not vote until one year after 
naturalization papers have been issued. 

13. The initiative and referendum, and proportional rep- 
resentation, should be adopted. 

14. Having herein presented our principles and pur- 
poses, we invite the cooperation and support of all citi- 
zens, who are with us substantially agreed. 

Very largely the men and women who organized the 
National party had previously acted with the Prohibition 
party, and had been in attendance upon the National Con- 
vention of that party in session in Pittsburg during the 
two days preceding. They withdrew from the party and 
that convention because it had refused to take a stand in 
defence of the principles of "Liberty, Justice and Equality," 
and had adopted a platform which utterly ignored every 
reform issue of the day except the prohibition of the liquor 
traffic. 

Those who organized the National party were fully 
aware of the magnitude of the liquor evil and were of 
one accord in the belief that it must be destroj-ed. But 
they also recognized the fact that there are other great 
evils afflicting this nation, and that silence by a political 
party in reference to wrongs resulting from political 



588 THE NATIONAL PARTY AND PLATFORM. 

action is sanction, and that sanction of the oppression and 
degradation of the people by the powers of injustice and 
wrong is a crime. 

The women of America, recognized as citizens by the 
Constitution and laws, are yet denied that right which 
inheres in citizenship, "the freeman's ballot," and are re- 
fused all voice in the Government which they are taxed to 
support and compelled to obey. 

Silence in reference to such a violation of the principles 
of civil liberty is a crime. 

Tlie Government of the country has been for years com- 
pletely dominated by the money power of America and 
Europe. This money power has controlled Congresses, 
Legislatures and Presidents, and secured legislation which 
enables a pampered few to live in luxury on the labor of 
tlie many. It has put poverty, wretchedness and vagrancy 
where there should be peace, prosperity and plenty. It 
has crippled our industries, fostered monopolies, organized 
trusts, increased the burdens of public and private debts, 
robbed every man and woman engaged in anj' legitimate 
occupation, reduced millions to pauperism and suffering, 
and created a spirit of unrest and discontent which threat- 
ens our existence as a nation. 

Silence in regard to such a perversion of the province 
of Government is a crime. 

And as the Prohibition Party was silent in regard to all 
these political crimes except the liquor traffic, it was im- 
possible to remain in the party without giving silent sanc- 
tion to these crimes. 

But to what party could those who recognized this fact 
turn ? 

Under the alternate dominance of the Republican and 
Democratic parties have these evils grown to their present 



THE NATIONAL PARTY AND TLATFORM. 589 

inagnitude. It were folly to look for relief to the parties 
which liad created and nurtured the evils from which 
relief was sought. 

The People's party is making a brave stand against tlio 
aggressions of monopoly, but is as silent on the liquor 
question as the Prohibition party is on the monopoly ques- 
tion. 

And in all four of these parties there was not to be 
found one to champion the civil rights of womanhood. 

Under these circumstances, to support either the Re- 
publican or Democratic parties was to assist in perpetuat- 
ing all the legislation which has brought the country to its 
present condition. 

To support the People's party was to consent to the 
continuance of the liquor traffic, and the disfranchisement 
of woman, in order to strike a blow at our financial and 
industrial system. 

To support the Prohibition party was to consent to the 
disfranchisement of women and the continuance of our 
present financial and industrial system, in order to strike 
a blow at the liquor traffic. 

What could those persons do who were unwilling to 
compromise with two great public wrongs in order to strike 
a third one ? 

They were compelled to either disfranchise themselves 
and neglect their duties as citizens, or organize a party 
which should be true to the right on all the great political 
questions of the day, and which should uphold the banner 
" Liberty, Justice and Equality," for all people, of all sexes 
and all classes. 

That party has been organized. It is called the National 
party. Its platform of principles is before you. It in- 
vites all citizens who desire the good of the whole jieople 
33 



590 THE NATIONAL PAllTY AND PLATFOKM, 

and the overthrow of all political wrongs, to unite at the 
ballot box next November and elect Charles E. Bentley 
and James H. Southgate, President and Vice President of 
this Republic. 

L. B. Logan, Chairman. 

John P. St. John, Vice Chairman. 

D. J. Thomas, Secretary. 

A. M. Todd, Treasurer. 

Helen M. Gougar. 

John Lloyd Thomas. 

R. S. Thompson. 

National Executive Committee. 
July 4, 1896. 



LIFE OF CHARLES E. BENTEEY. 



Charles E. Bentley, of Nebraska, nominee of the 
National party for President in 1896, was born in the 
town of Warner's, Onondaga County, New York, April 
30, 1841. His forefathers were of sturdy New England 
stock, and his grandparents migrated to Warner's in 
1809, carving out of the forest the farm of 100 acres 
which has been ever since a Bentley possession. 

Mr. Bentley is the eldest and only survivor of a family 
of six children. His parents were of decided literary 
tastes, and the father was of an active political turn, being 
a pronounced Whig and Republican. The son received 
his education in the common schools of his vicinage 
and in seminary courses at Elbridge and Cazenovia, 
New York, 



\ 




Joshua Leveeing. 




JlAl.l'; loHNSo.N. 



THE NATIONAL PARTY AND PLATFORM. 59;"5 

In 1863 he married Miss Persis Freeman, of Bald- 
winsville, N. Y., and in 1866 moved to Clinton, Iowa, 
where , for twelve years, he was nearly all the time en- 
gaged in public service, being City Clerk and Treasurer, 
and Secretary of the Board of Education. In 1878, he 
moved to Nebraska and settled on a farm at Surprise, 
in Butler County. Here his family grew up about him, 
and received their education, judiciously tempered with 
farm work. The farm became a model one, and the 
family grew into importance as leaders of organizers 
and workers in the cause of education, temperance, 
Christianity and good morals. 

In 1890, Mr. Bentley moved his family to Lincoln, 
Neb. , the better to carry on his own philanthropic work 
and round out the education of his children. As early 
as 1884, Mr. Bentley ceased to cooperate with the Re- 
publican party, and joined the Prohibition party. He 
was chairman of the first Prohibition Convention ever 
held in Nebraska, and has often been similarly honored 
since. He was often a candidate of his party — twice for 
the legislature, once for governor, once for congress, and 
once for the United States Senate — and in every in- 
stance led his ticket in the number of votes received or 
strength accorded. 

Such was his courage, executive ability and popu- 
larity, that in 1892 he was chosen a member of the 
National Prohibition Committee. At the State Con- 
vention of 1895 and at that of 1896 the delegates to the 
National Convention were instructed to vote for him for 
President. With some reluctance he assented to the use 
of his name at Pittsburgh, where he conspicuously rep- 
resented the "broad gauge" principles of his party. 

Mr. Bentley is and has been a sturdy and determined 



594 THE NATIONAL PARTY AND PLATFOBM. 

advocate of woman suffrage. No party can hold him 
in political leading tliat in open opposition or silent, 
cowardly, evasion, denies to women the right of the 
ballot. Mr. Bentley retains at Surprise the pastorial 
charge of the Baptist Church, over which he has pre- 
sided since he personally led in its organization in 1880. 
He also preaches as supply for the church at Friend, 
Neb. The doors of his church have always been opened 
for every righteous reform. His plain uncompromising 
declarations of truth as he preaches political righteous- 
ness and denounces parties that have made a "Covenant 
with Death," are in refreshing contrast to the timid 
time-serving utterances of the average license party 
preacher. 

In personal appearance Mr. Bentley is a man of more 
than average attractions, gifted with splendid physique, 
a genial manner, forcefulness of expression and those 
rare gifts of oratory which come from a direct statement 
of the truth. He is a leader by virtue of his natural 
endowments, coupled with the experience which he has 
had all these years. 



UFB OF JAMES H. SOUTHGATE. 



James H. Southgate, nominee of the National party 
for Vice President, was born in Norfolk, Va., the 12th 
of July, 1859, moved to North Carolina in 1861, and has 
lived in Franklin, Iredell, Orange and Durham counties 
in said State, the last mentioned for 20 years. Was 
prepared for College by Maj. D. H. Hamilton, of Hills- 
boro, and the Horner and Graves Military Academy of 



THE NATIONAL PARTY AND PLATFORM. 595 

the same place. Was a student at the University of N. 
C. during the years 1876-79 inclusive, and on leaving 
College studied the banking business and opened the 
first set of banking books ever opened in Durham. 
Went in partnership with his father, J. Southgate, in 
the general insurance business, in 1882. Was married 
in that year to Kate Shephard, oldest daughter of B. 
and M. H. Fuller. Mrs. Southgate died in February, 
1893. Two children survive her, Mena, aged 11, and 
Tom, aged 5. 

Is an ex-president of the Y. M. C. A. Convention of 
N. C, and is now a member of its State Executive Com- 
mittee, and has been for a number of years. Was Sec- 
retary of the first State Convention ever held in the in- 
terest of that order in N. C. in the year 1877. Has 
been a member of the Executive Committee of the 
State Sunday School Association for nearly 10 years, 
and is now the Treasurer of that body and a Trustee 
and member of the Executive Board of Trinity College, 
Durham, N. C, and President of the Educator Publishing 
Co., and Director in the Morehead Banking Co. Has 
been a member of the State Executive Committee of 
the Prohibition party for nearly a decade, and was 
elected Chairman of the State Executive Committee of 
that party of 1892. 



THE PEOPLE'S PARTY. 



Candidates and Pi^atform of 1896. 

The second National Convention of the Peoples ' or 
Populist party met at St. Louis on July 22, 1896. This 
new party met in first National Convention at Omaha, 
July 4, 1892, and nominated General Weaver for Presi- 
dent, who received over 1,000,000 votes. 

The first platform of the People's party was adopted 
at Cincinnati May 20, 1891, and was based on the Ocala 
platform, adopted in Florida the year previous. 

The St. Louis Convention was composed of 1,322 del- 
egates, divided among the respective States somewhat 
in proportion to the strength of the vote cast in 1892. 
It organized temporarily by the election of Senator But- 
ler, of N. Carolina, as chairman, and permanently by 
the election of Senator William V. Allen, of Nebraska. 

Early in the session it was manifest that a powerful 
sentiment existed in favor of ratifying the Democratic 
nomination of Bryan and Sewall. This sentiment was 
greatly encouraged by the presence at the convention of 
Mr. Bryan's managers, such as Senator Jones, of Ar- 
kansas , Chairman of the Democratic National Commit- 
tee, and others. It found equal, if not more direct and 
stronger, encouragement in the members of the Free 
Silver party, who were also sitting in National Conven- 
tion, in St. Louis, simultaneously with the Populists, 
and whose mission there had been foreshadowed as one 
of alliance with the Democratic party, with the hope 

(596) 



I'HE people's party AND PLATFORM. 597 

that it could be instrumental in inducing the Populists 
to join in such alliance. Moreover, it was felt that it 
would be good practical politics to unite all the Popu- 
listic and Free Silver party strength under the Bryan 
Democratic banner, since all agreed that the question of 
free silver coinage at the ratio of i6 to i was a para- 
mount issue, and since the doctrine had found unequiv- 
ocal sanction in the Democratic platform at Chicago. 

Opposed to this sentiment was another, whose 
strength could not be ascertained till a test was made in 
Convention, which opposed the endorsement of Bryan 
and favored the nomination of straightout Populistic 
candidates. This sentiment found its strongest sup- 
porters in the Southern States, where the Populists had 
in many places fought their way to victory over the heads 
of the old Democratic party. They claimed that an 
alliance with the Democrats, and a contribution of direct 
support to Bryan, would eliminate the Populist party in 
the South by subordinating it wholly to that tyranical 
dominion whence it had escaped only after superhuman 
exertion. As ' ' middle-of-the-road ' ' men they claimed 
the right to perpetuate their organization in spite of all 
questions of expediency. 

A test of strength came on the second day of the 
Convention over the question of electing a permanent 
chairman. The Bryan supporters nominated Senator 
William V. Allen, of Nebraska, for the place, and the 
"middle-of-the-road" men nominated Mr. Campion, of 
Maine. A test of strength on this crucial question 
showed 758 votes for Allen and 564 for Campion, thus 
placing the convention at the disposal of a Bryanite ma- 
jority, and committing it to an alliance with the Democ- 
racy, at least so far as the head of the ticket and the 
cardinal plank in the platform went. 



598 THE people's party and platform. 

Committees were now raised in both the sitting con- 
ventions to confer with one another over the special 
terms of alliance. It does not appear that these com- 
mittees proved useful for the purposes intended, at least 
the Silver party went ahead and placed the Chicago 
nominees upon their ticket and then adjourned, leaving 
the Poupulists to take their own course. 

The convention was thrown into confused and acri- 
monious debate over the question of indorsing Bryan 
and Sewall, the Democratic nominees at Chicago. As 
the dispute lengthened it became evident that the dispo- 
sition was to throw Sewall off the ticket, and the order 
of business was changed so as to nominate the Vice 
President first. 

Several names were placed in nomination for Vice 
President, the most conspicuous of which were Mr. 
Sewall and Hon. Thos. K. Watson, of Georgia. Not- 
withstanding the manifestation of Bryan strength on 
former tests, which strength, it was supposed, could be 
transferred to Sewall^ a vote disclosed the fact that Mr, 
Watson had secured the nomination for Vice President 
by a fair majority. 

By this heroic action the convention had rendered a 
cloudy situation more obscure, for it became doubtful 
whether Mr. Bryan would accept either a nomination or 
indorsement after the defeat of his Chicago running 
mate. This, however, did not defer earnest work in his 
behalf, and when nominations for President were reached 
his name was eloquently placed before the convention 
by General Weaver. The name of Col. S. F. Norton, 
of Illinois, was also placed in nomination. A ballot dis- 
closed the fact that the Bryan sentiment was over- 
whelming, and his nomination was secured by a vote of 



THE people's party AND PLATFORM. 699 

1,043 to 321 for Norton. As the platform had already 
been adopted, the convention adjourned on July 25. 



PEOPIvE'S PARTY PLATFORM FOR 1896. 



"The People's Party," assembled in National con- 
vention, reaffirms its allegiance to the principles declared 
by the founders of the Republic, and also to the funda- 
mental principles of just government as enunciated in 
the platform of the party in 1892. 

" We recognize that through the connivance of the 
present and preceding administrations, the country has 
reached a crisis in its National life as predicted in our 
declaration four years ago, and that prompt and politic 
action is the supreme duty of the hour. 

"We realize that while we have political independ- 
ence, our financial and industral independence is yet to 
be attained by restoring to our country the Constitutional 
control and exercise of the functions necessary to a peo- 
ple's government, which functions have been basely 
surrendered by our public servants to corporate monop- 
olies. The influence of European money-changers has 
been more potent in shaping legislation than the voice 
of the American people. Executive power and patron- 
age have been used to corrupt our Legislatures and 
defeat the will of the people, and plutocracy has been 
enthroned upon the ruins of Democracy. 

* ' To restore the government intended by the fathers, 
and for the welfare and prosperity of this and future gene- 
rations, we demand the establishment of an economic 
and financial system which shall make us masters of our 



600 THE people's paety and platform. 

own affairs, and independent of European control by the 
adoption of the following Declaration of Principles: — 

Finance. 

"First. — We demand a National money, safe and 
sound, issued by the general Government only, without 
the intervention of banks of issue, to be a full legal ten- 
der for all debts, public and private; also, a just, equita- 
ble and efficient means of distribution direct to the peo- 
ple, and through the lawful disbursements of the Gov- 
ernment. 

"Second. — We demand the free and unrestricted coin- 
age of silver and gold at the present legal ratio of 16 to 
1, without waiting for the consent of foreign nations. 

"Third. — We demand the volume of circulating 
medium be speedily increased to an amount sufficient to 
meet the demands of the business population of this 
country, and to restore the just level of prices of labor 
and production. 

'* Fourth. — We denounce the sale of bonds and the 
increase of the public interest-bearing-bond-debt made 
by the present Administration as unnecessary and with- 
out authority of law, and that no more bonds be issued 
except by specific act of Congress. 

"Fifth. — We demand such legal legislation as will 
prevent the demonetization of the lawful money of the 
United States by private contract. 

"Sixth.— We demand that the Government, in pay- 
ment of its obligations, shall use its option as to the kind 
of lawful money in which they are to be paid, and we 
denounce the present and preceding Administrations for 
surrendering this option to the holders of Government 
obligations. 



d?HE peoI>le's party and platform. ()Ui 

''Seventli. — We demand a graduated income tax, to 
the end that aggregated wealth shall bear its just pro- 
portion of taxation; and we denounce the Supreme 
Court, relative to the income tax law, as a misinterpre- 
tation of the Constitution, and an invasion of the right- 
ful powers of Congress over the subject of taxation. 

"Eighth. — We demand that postal saving banks be 
established by the Government for the safe deposit of 
the savings of the people, and to facilitate exchange. 

Transportation. 

" Transportation being a means of exchange and pub- 
lic necessity, the Government should own and operate 
the railroads in the interest of the people, and on non- 
partisan basis, to the end that all may be accorded the 
same treatment in transportation, and that the tyranny 
and political power now exercised by the great railroad 
corporations, which result in the impairment, if not the 
destruction of the political rights and personal liberties 
of the citizen, may be destroyed. Such ownership is to 
be accomplished gradually, in a manner consistent with 
sound public policy. 

"Second. — The interest of the United States in the 
public highways built with public moneys and the pro- 
ceeds of extensive grants of land to the Pacific railroads 
should never be alienated, mortgaged or sold, but 
guarded and protected for the general welfare, as pro- 
vided by the laws organizing such railroads. The fore- 
closure of existing liens of the United States on these 
roads should at once follow default in the payment 
thereof of the debt of companies, and at the foreclosure 
sales of said roads the Government shall purchase the 
same if it becomes necessary to protect the interests 



602 THE people's party and platform. 

therein, or if they can be purchased at a reasonable price ; 
and the Government shall operate such railroads as pub- 
lic highways for the benefit of the whole, and not in the 
interest of the few, under suitable provisions for the 
protection of life and property, giving to all transporta- 
tion interests and privileges, and equal rates for fares and 
freight. 

' ' Third. — We denounce the present infamous schemes 
for refunding these debts, and demand that the laws 
now applicable thereto be executed and administered 
according to their true intent and spirit. 

''Fourth. — The telegraph, like the postofiice system, 
being a necessity for the transmission of news, should 
be owned and operated by the Government in the inter- 
est of the people. 

lyAND Monopolies. 

" First. — The true policy demands that the National 
and State legislation shall be such as will ultimately 
enable every prudent and industrious citizen to secure 
a home, and, therefore, the land should not be monopo- 
lized for speculative purposes. 

" All lands now held by railroads and other corpora- 
tions in excess of their actual needs should, by lawful 
means, be reclaimed by the Government and held for 
actual settlers only ; and private land monopoly, as well 
as alien ownership, should be prohibited. 

"Second. — We condemn the frauds by which the land 
grant to the Pacific railroad companies have, through 
the connivance of the Interior Department, robbed mul- 
titudes of equal bonafide settlers of their homes, and 
miners of their claims, and we demand legislation by 
Congress which will enforce the exemption of mineral 



THE people's party AND PLATFORM. 603 

land from such grants after as well as before patent. 

"Third. — "We demand that bonafide settlers on all 
public lands be granted free homes, as provided in the 
National Homestead Law, and that no exception be 
made in the case of Indian reservations when opened 
for settlement, and that all lands not now patented come 
under this demand. 

" We favor a system of direct legislation through the 
initiative and referendum, under proper Constitutional 
safeguards. 

General Propositions. 

" First. — We demand the election of President, Vice- 
President and United States Senators by a direct vote of 
the people. 

"Second. — We tender to the patriotic people of Cuba 
our deepest sympathy in their heroic struggle for politi- 
cal freedom and independence, and we believe the time 
has come when the United States, the great republic of 
the world, should recognize that Cuba is and of right 
ought to be a free and independent State. 

" Third. — We favor home rule in the Territories and 
the District of Columbia, and the early admission of 
the Territories as States. 

" Fourth. — All public salaries should be made to cor- 
respond to the price of labor and its products. 

" Fifth. — In times of great industrial depression, idle 
labor should be employed on public works as far as prac- 
ticable. 

" Sixth. — The arbitrary course of the courts in assum- 
ing to imprison citizens for indirect contempt, and rul- 
ing that by injunction should be prevented by proper 
legislation. 



(>04 THE people's party and platform. 

"Seventh. — We favor just pensions for our disabled 
Union soldiers. 

" Eighth. — Believing that the election franchise and 
untrammeled ballot are essential to a Government of, 
for and by the people, the People's Party condemn the 
wholesale system of disfranchisement adopted in some 
States as unrepublican and undemocratic, and we declare 
it to be the duty of the several State Legislatures to 
take such action as will secure a full, free and fair bal- 
lot, and an honest count. 

"Ninth. — While the foregoing propositions consti- 
tute the platform upon which our party stands, and for 
the vindication of which its organization will be main- 
tained, we recognize that the great and pressing issue of 
the pending campaign upon which the present Presi- 
dential election will turn, is the financial question, and, 
upon this great and specific issue between the parties, 
we cordially invite the aid and co-operation of all organ- 
izations and citizens agreeing with us upon this vital 
question." 




.MaKION HlTI.KIl. 

Born in Sampson co., N. C, May 20, I860 ; yradualed at University oT 
N. C, 1885; relinquished study of law for farming; joined Farmers' 
Alliance and edited Clinton Caucasian; elected to State Senate, 1890; 
elected president of Farmers' Alliance, 1891-92; V. -P. of Nat. Farmers' 
Alliance, 1893; -President of same, 1894; severed connection with Dem. 
party in 1892, and built up People's party in 1893-94 ; Chairman of 
Populist Committee ; member of Board of .State University; elected as 
Populist to U. S. Senate, 1895; Chairman of Com. on Executive Expen- 
ditures, and member of Committees on Agricultnre, Coast Defences, 
Epidemic Diseases, Fisheries, and Post Offices and Roads. 




Thomas IC, A\'atsok, 



LIFE OF THOMAS E. WATSON. 



Thomas Edward Watson, nominee of the People's 
party for Vice-President, was born in Columbia County, 
Georgia, on September 5, 1856. After passing through 
the public schools, he entered Mercer University, at 
Macon, Ga., in 1872, but did not complete a full course 
for lack of means. He taught school for a time and 
then entered the law ofiice of Judge W. R. McLaws, of 
Augusta, Ga. On his admission to the bar, he began 
practice at Thomson, in 1876. 

In 1880, at the age of twenty-four, he entered the 
political arena as a delegate to the Democratic State 
Covention, and at once leaped into fame by one of the 
most eloquent speeches delivered before that body. In 
1882 he was elected to the lower house of the State Leg- 
islature, and, in 1888, was a Democratic Presidential 
elector-at-large. 

In 1890 he was elected to Congress from the Augusta 
District as a Democrat, receiving 5,456 votes, against 
597 for Anthony E. Williams, his Republican candidate. 
In this campaign he exhibited much force and ability as a 
speaker, and was a stern champion of the principles in- 
culcated by the Farmers' Alliance. 

In the House, he distinguished himself as a fiery de- 
bater, and took a leading part in several parliameutary 
battles. His unique personality and sanguine tempera- 
ment attracted the attention of the country at large. 
He took strong ground against the principles and 
methods of both political parties, and thus in turn won 
the applause of both. 

In 1892, he became the nominee of the People's party 

(607) 



608 LIFE OF THOMAS E. WATSON. 

for Congress in his district. He began his campaign by the 
publication of a book which contained charges against 
the morality of members of the House. An investigation 
followed, pending which Watson defended the truth of 
his charges with great ability, but a majority of the in- 
vestigating committee found them without warrant. 

Throughout his second campaign, he championed the 
cause of the farmer, poor man, and negro, as against 
the rich, and held a series of exciting debates with his 
opponent, which resulted in much ill-feeling at the 
time. Able as he was upon the stump, he could not 
stem the tide which set in against him, because of his 
liberal notions, and he was defeated at the election by a 
vote of 17,772 to 12,333. 

In 1894, he again tried conclusions with his old oppo- 
nent, Mr. Black, and this time as a straighter than ever 
Populist. Though he made a splendid campaign, he 
was again doomed to defeat by 20,942 to 13,498 votes. 
There were charges and counter- charges of fraud, and 
Mr. Black, declining to enter on a term about which 
there was a dispute, resigned his seat. This enabled 
the two competitors to make another appeal to the peo- 
ple. It was made at a special election held October 2d, 
1895, and resulted in another defeat for Watson by a 
vote of 10,193 to 8,637. 

In 1878, Mr. Watson was married to Miss Georgia 
Durham, and has two children. In appearance he is 
slender, angular and youthful looking. His head is 
crowned with a luxuriant crop of auburn hair. His 
physical appearance by no means denotes the fiery zeal, 
persistent enery, great mental activity, and wonderful 
oratorical powers of the man who even excels his run- 
ning mate on the Populist ticket in his speedy march to 
fame and in superb rhetorical force. 



NATIONAL SILVER PARTY. 



Candidates and Pi^atform for 1896. 

The National Silver Party met in its first National 
Convention at St. Louis on July 22, 1896, simultaneously 
with the meeting of the People's party, with which it 
was in close political aflSliation. This new party owed 
its existence to the American Bimetallic League, which 
on February 22, 1895, at Chicago, appointed a committee 
of congressmen, with Hon. William M. Stewart, of 
Navada, at their head, to promote "the equal use of 
gold and silver." There was established at Washington 
an executive committee of the league, or party, whose 
head and active spirit was ex- Congressman A. Judson 
Warner, of Marietta, Ohio, afterwards of Washington. 
Minor leagues were formed throughout the country, all 
with a common view, and these became consolidated 
under the name of the American Bimetallic Union. 

This union, league or party was encouraged and grew 
on the hypothesis that neither of the leading political 
parties would favor its principles in their conventions; 
but after the adoption of a free silver coinage platform 
by the Democratic party at Chicago, and the nomina- 
tion of Bryan and Sew all, it found in both platform and 
in those candidates what it wanted, and forthjvith issued 
the following proclamation and indorsement through its 
Executive Committee ; 

(609) 



610 THE NATIONAL 8ILVEB PABTY AND PLATFORM. 

Chicago, III., July 12. 

*'To the members of the American Bimetallic Union 
and of all affiliated unions and leagues throughout the 
United States, and all other friends of bimetallism : 

"Whereas, The American Bimetallic Union, being a 
consolidation of the American Bimetallic League, the 
National Bimetallic Union, the National Silver 
Committee, and other bimetallic organizations, 
called a conference at Washington, D. C, on the 
22d day of January last, at which conference it was 
determined that the people in the approaching election 
should have the opportunity to vote for candidates for 
President and Vice-President, and for members of Con- 
gress, committed unequivocally to the restoration of the 
unrestricted coinage of both gold and silver on the 
terms of equality existing prior to 1873, and to make 
this determination sure, a convention was called by said 
conference to meet at St. Louis on the 22d day of July, 
there to place in nomination candidates for President 
and Vice-President, in case, meantime, neither of the 
two great parties — as then appeared doubtful — offered 
acceptable candidates on a platform committing the 
candidates and the party to the restoration of the un- 
restricted coinage of both gold and silver ; and, 

'* Whereas, The Democratic convention just ended at 
Chicago has adopted a platform containing all that bi- 
metallists have demanded, fully and unequivocally ex- 
pressed, and has nominated candidates of distinguished 
ability, and long known as sincere adherents of our 
cause ; therefore be it 

"Resolved, That in the opinion of this committee 
but one duty remains for the friends of this great cause 
to perform, and that is to unite as one man in support 



THE NATIONAL SILVER PARTY AND PLATFORM. 611 

of the platform adopted at Chicago and the candidates 
nominated thereon, and to work with might and main 
until the election in November to secure the success of 
this ticket. If this is done we sincerely believe that 
our cause will be won and prosperity be restored to our 
people. 

"The only danger to be feared is in a division of our 
own forces, which we pray will not be allowed to take 
place. To divide our forces on the eve of the great 
contest before us would be unnatural and suicidal ; and 
for one to lead a revolt in such a cause and at such a 
time, would come little short of being a public crime. 
We therefore appeal to all members of the bimetallic 
union and of affiliated silver leagues and all others 
opposed to the continuance of the single gold standard, 
regardless of party affiliations, to come to the support 
of the platform and the splendid ticket given us at the 
people's great convention just held at Chicago. We 
further urge upon all who agree with us upon this vital 
issue, to join us at St. Louis on July 22d, there to in- 
dorse and ratify the work so nobly begun. 

**A. J. Warner, President. 

*'R. C. Chambers, First Vice-President. 

"Henry G. Miller, Second Vice-President. 

" Thomas G. Merrill, Treasurer. 

**J. B. Grant, of Executive Committee. 

"H. F. Bartine, of Executive Committee. 

"George E. Bowen, Secretary." 

This proclamation was of course a commitment, in 
advance of the forthcoming convention of the party to 
the Democratic nominees and platform, at least so far as 
the latter represented free silver coinage, and when the 



612 THE NATIONAL SILVER PARTY AND PLATFORM. 

convention actually assembled at St. Louis, it soon made 
known its preference for Bryan and Sewall. It also 
raised a committee to confer with a similar committee 
on the part of the Populists, then also in National Con- 
vention at St. Louis, over the details of an out and out 
alliance of all the free silver coinage elements of the 
country with the Democratic party. 

These committees did not prove very eflfective for their 
purpose, and the convention made haste to adopt its 
platform and to nominate by acclamation the nominees 
of the Chicago convention, Bryan and Sewall, lor Presi- 
dent and Vice President. 



THE NATIONAL SILVER PARTY PLATFORM 
OF 1896. 

First — The paramount issue at this time in the 
United States is indisputably the money question. It is 
between the gold standard, gold bonds and bank cur- 
rency on the one side and the bimetallic standard, no 
bonds and government currency on the other. 

On this issue we declare ourselves to be in favor of a 
distinctively American financial system. We are unal- 
terably opposed to the single gold standard, and demand 
the immediate return to the constitutional standard of 
gold and silver by the restoration by this government, 
independently of any foreign power, of the unrestricted 
coinage of both gold and silver into standard money at 
the ratio of 16 to i and upon terms of exact equality, 
as they existed prior to 1873 5 ^^^ silver coin to be a full 
legal tender, equally with gold, for all debts and dues, 
private and public, and we favor such legislation as will 



THE NATIONAL SILVER PABTY AND PLATFORM. 613 

prevent for the future the deirjo^etization of any kind of 
legal tender money by private contract. 

We hold that the power to control, and regulate a paper 
currency is inseparable from the power to coin money, 
and hence that all currency intended to circulate as mon- 
ey should be issued, and its volume controlled, by the 
general government only and should be legal tender. 

We are unalterably opposed to the issue by the United 
States of interest-bearing bonds in time of peace, and 
we denounce as a blunder worse than a crime the present 
treasury policy, concurred in by a Republican House, 
of plunging the country in debt by hundreds of millions 
in the vain attempt to maintain the gold standard by 
borrowing gold ; and we demand the payment of all coin 
obligations of the United States, as provided by existing 
laws, in either gold or silver coin at the option of the 
government — not the option of the creditor. 

The demonetization of silver in 1873 enormously in- 
creased the demand for gold, enhancing its purchasing 
power and lowering all prices measured by that standard ; 
and since that unjust and indefensible act the prices of 
American products have fallen upon an average nearly 
50 per cent., carrying down with them proportionally 
the money value of all other forms of property. Such 
fall of prices has destroyed the profits of legitimate in- 
dustry, injuring the producer for the benefit of the non- 
producer, increasing the burden of the debtor, swelling 
the gains of the creditor, paralyzing the productive en- 
ergies of the American people, relegating to idlene.'-s 
vast numbers of willing workers, sending the shadows 
of despair into the home of the honest toiler, filling the 
land with tramps and paupers and building up collossal 
fortunes at the money centres. 



614 ... : _ JN/vI 8IA.\'EB PARTY AND PLATFORM. 

In the etlbrc to maiiuain the gold standard the country- 
has within the last two years in a time of profound 
peace and plenty, been loaded down with $262,000,000 
of additional interest-bearing debt, under such circum- 
stances as to allow a syndicate of native and foreign 
bankers to realize a new profit of millions on a sin- 
gle deal. 



It stands confessed that the gold standard can only be 
upheld by so depleting our paper currency as to force 
the prices of our products below the European and even 
below the Asiatic level, to enable us to sell in foreign 
markets, thus aggravating the very evils of which our 
people so bitterly complain, degrading American labor 
and striking at the foundation of our civilization itself. 

The advocates of the gold standard persistently claim 
that the cause of our distress is overproduction; that 
we have produced so much that it has made us poor, 
which implies that the true remedy is to close the fac- 
tory, abandon the farm and throw a multitude of people 
out of employment, a doctrine that leaves us unnerved 
and disheartened and absolutely without hope for the 
future. 

We affirm it to be unquestioned that there can be no 
such economic paradox as over-production and at the 
same time tens of thousands of our fellow-citizens re- 
maining half clothed and half fed and who are piteously 
clamoring for the common necessaries of life. 

Second — That over and above all other questions of 
policy, we are in favor of restoring to the people of the 
United States the time-honored money of the Constitu- 
tion — gold and silver, not one, but both — the money of 
Washington and Hamilton, and Jefferson and Monroe, 

-W 15 /5/;5 



THE NATIONAL SILVER PARTY AND PLATFORM. '616 

and Jackson and Lincoln, to the end that the American 
people may receive honest pay for an honest product; 
that the American debtor may pay his just obligations 
in an honest standard and not in a standard that has ap- 
preciated one hundred per cent, above all the great sta- 
ples of our country, and to the end further that silver 
standard countries may be deprived of the unjust advant- 
age they now enjoy in the difference in exchange be- 
tween gold and silver — an advantage which tariff legis- 
lation alone cannot overcome. 

We therefore confidently appeal to the people of the 
United States to leave in abeyance for the moment all 
other questions, however important and even momentous 
they may appear, to sunder, if need be, all former party 
ties and affiliate and unite in one supreme effort to free 
themselves and their children from the domination 
of the money power — a power more destructive than 
any which has ever been fastened upon the civilized 
men of any race or in any age. And upon the consum- 
mation of our desire and efforts we invoke the gracious 
favor of Divine Providence. 






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